A Girl, An Apocalypse and A Dixon: Survival
by moonstar825
Summary: Alex & Jake survived the initial outbreak & subsequent onslaught of the living dead, creating a "safe" community for other like-minded survivors. But after six months, they're finding that the dead aren't the only monsters out there. Can they protect everything they've worked so hard for & keep their community intact? Can Jake and Alex's new relationship survive the pressure?
1. Chapter 1 Previously, in the Apocalypse

**Note: This is the 2nd part of this story. Part one is called A Girl, An Apocalypse and A Dixon: The Beginning. Much of this story won't make sense without reading part one first.**

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It had been six months since the outbreak began and Alex and Jake brought all the survivors to stay at the Lazy H. They had settled into a routine fairly quickly after the first group meeting laying out the rules of the colony. For the most part, people were happy to contribute, happy to be relatively safe and have a place to live, not just survive.

Winter had arrived about a month after they established the colony. They had plenty of time to round up and slaughter enough livestock to provide enough meat for everyone through the winter, on the off chance that it snowed a lot that year. They were lucky; while it did snow it was not much, and not enough to do any damage by bringing down trees and branches.

The area did receive an abnormal amount of rain though. At one point in January the creek overflowed, flooding a portion of the meadow where they finally settled the trailers. It had been a long day, but they had managed to move all but one of the affected trailers.

Alex and Jake had also settled into a comfortable routine. They had shared a room since the night Alex was attacked by Aaron. The moving in was gradual; Alex started putting Jake's clean clothes into drawers that she cleared out for him in her dresser and he slowly started leaving toiletries and other personal effects in her bathroom and bedroom.

They still hadn't seen each other naked in the next context of their relationship. In fact, they had hardly done anything other than innocent, fully-clothed cuddling and chaste kissing, even though they shared a bed each night. Neither of them was in a hurry, they were both perfectly happy with things just as they were.

They both ran retrieval crews, so they rarely went on runs together. This made it easier for Jake to give Alex the space to grow that she both needed and deserved. Jake found that it was much easier for him to treat Alex as an equal and an adult once they embraced their relationship. It was like a switch flipped in his brain.

When Alex wasn't on runs she was out hunting or training with Sally. Sally had turned twelve just after the New Year and along with her new age she had been given new responsibilities. The council had put Sally in charge of the riding horses that they used for perimeter patrols and runs. Sally herded them from pasture to pasture each week and cycled the horses being ridden through the stalls in the barn, making sure that no single animal was over worked. Sally groomed them, fed them and mucked out the stalls daily, and Doc had even started showing her how to check their hooves for splits and check forelegs for less obvious injuries. Sally was a natural with horses, which should have been apparent to Alex from the way Honey had protected her the day she'd found Sally and her poor brother.

Sally even had the opportunity to deliver a foal. The Lazy H had been gathering various livestock that was running around free, mainly animals they could eat like cattle, goats and pigs, but they had also gathered horses that were of good quality and in good shape for riding. One of those horses they brought in was very close to delivery when she arrived and Doc took the opportunity to teach Sally everything he could about the equine birthing process.

Sally worked really hard at every task she was given and she was constantly volunteering for jobs that no one else wanted to do, especially things that would help her build her upper body strength. She occasionally lost control of her temper and had little outbursts, much like Alex was wont to do, but Sally was much better at keeping her cool long enough to remove herself from the situation.

Sally adored Alex and Jake. The three of them still stayed separately in the main house from everyone else, allowing them to settle into their own routine as an odd, post-apocalyptic family unit. Jake taught Sally anything she was willing to learn, though he had to admit that Alex had done a really thorough job teaching the girl everything that she knew. More often than not, Jake found himself repeating something that Alex had already told her. It made him both happy and annoyed at the same time.

Sally and Alex shared a special bond. They spent much of the winter out on the mountain in the rain; Alex taught Sally everything she knew about surviving off the land. Sally spent the little spare time that she had weight training and lifting anything she could find repeatedly. Her arms had finally become strong enough for her to carry the AR on her own.

Alex started taking the girl on the occasional run, much to the dismay of Kathy. While the woman no longer openly voiced her opposition to Alex's training of Sally, the look on her face when they arrived or left made Kathy's feelings crystal clear. Alex had managed to keep her cool with Kathy at all times but there were a few close calls that resulted in either Sally or Jake making excuses to drag Alex off.

Kara had continued to flirt with Jake, but she avoided Alex, almost comically. If Alex showed up unexpectedly in a room or around the barn, Kara would literally drop whatever she was doing and leave the area. She was failing miserably at ignoring Alex's existence. Kara's behavior hadn't escalated to the point that they could take any sort of official action against her, but she was really starting to frustrate a number of people around the ranch. Shelly had finally had enough and moved herself, Mary and Tommy out of the bunkhouse and into their own trailer not long after the first group meeting. She wouldn't tell anyone the specifics, but it was assumed she got tired of listening to Kara plot how she was going to win Jake back.

Shelly and Maggie Horton had been tasked with creating a school. While there were only seven kids that would benefit from it at the moment, the group felt it was important to continue to teach at least some of the things that they had been learning before the world went to shit. Alex, not surprisingly, felt that it was a waste of time for Sally to attend school and a long discussion had followed. Alex stood her ground.

"I just don't see what good it is for her to have her head filled with civil war battle dates and Shakespeare sonnets. She would be better served using that time to work on her hunting and fighting skills," Alex argued with Kathy, Maggie and the other members of the council. "And really, all the kids should be learning how to fight and hunt, not memorize shit that isn't important to surviving now."

Jake nodded in support, Kathy and Maggie looked aghast.

"What about Math? Geography? Science? Aren't there useful things to be gained from each of those subjects? Things Sally might use," Ellie asked.

Billy smiled at the group and held up his hand before Alex could respond. "Ellie's right, there's stuff she needs to learn, stuff that's just as important as huntin' and fightin'," he quickly added when he saw Alex starting to get wound up. Billy pushed on, "Maggie, what's the teachin' schedule going to be? You're not teachin' everythin' everyday, right?"

Maggie shook her head. "No. We thought we'd split it into two subjects a day since we only have the kids for four hours a day. We could easily split the subjects into blocks so Sally attends just a couple of days a week," Maggie offered.

"That work for you two," Billy asked Alex and Jake. They nodded in agreement.

"What about my suggestion of teaching the kids about weapons, hunting and fighting," Alex asked the group.

Kathy grimaced, but said nothing.

"Maggie, can you get me a schedule by tomorrow so we can figure out the best time for weapons training," Billy asked.

"Of course," Maggie said, nodding. "Who is going to teach these classes?"

"There's only seven kids, won't take much ta teach 'em tha basics," Jake said. "Al's done a good job teachin' Sally, why don't she teach it," he asked the group.

Alex lit up at the suggestion. "I'd be happy too! Sally can help me," she offered.

Kathy and Maggie shared a nervous glance.

"Let's look at the schedule and then we'll see how it works with everyone's assignments, okay," Billy suggested.

Of course, once the schedule was all worked out, it was easiest for Alex to teach the kids. Her runs usually were the most reliable, meaning her group returned around the same time every day. Defense lessons were scheduled after classes on the two days a week that Sally attended school. After lunch, Alex and Sally would teach the kids how to wrestle, handle a knife, throw a proper punch and how to aim and fire a gun. They also taught the kids some basic outdoors skills like how to start a fire, how to make water safe for drinking and edible plant identification.

It had been five months since they started the school and teaching the kids how to fight and survive. Alex was pleased with most of the children's progress, but Tommy just seemed uninterested in anything that Alex or Sally tried to teach him. He spent most of the lessons antagonizing Sally and trying to get a reaction out of her. Alex finally made him work with her and the little kids instead.

Through the winter they had classes in the barn, but now that is was April and spring had arrived, Alex was working with the kids down by the creek, alternating wrestling matches in the grass with identifying which plants were okay to eat and which weren't.

Alex was preoccupied during today's lesson, however. Jake and Tim had left early that morning to go scouting to the east, towards Empire Valley, the closest thing to the big city for fifty miles. Alex and Sally had seen smoke across a ridge to the east one morning just after sunrise when they were camping overnight on the mountain. That was sometime in February. Since then, the Lazy H had been sending out scouts in ones and twos, a couple miles at a time, looking for other survivors. So far they'd brought in about twenty people, from families and small groups that had been making it on other ranches.

One recent scouting group came across some unfriendlies and Zach had gotten grazed with a bullet in the arm. Zach and Ellie managed to escape, but the group ended up following them back. The attack was not a surprise, they'd detected the intruders with their "main road" watch, backup had arrived in plenty of time to defeat the attackers, but there were two deaths and several injuries. Jake and Alex had followed the group's back trail and created a fake trail to lead any others that might follow away from the area surrounding the Lazy H and the bodies had been deposited into the mass graves for the undead, leaving no trace of them behind.

After that, scouting groups were limited to only those with serious fighting and tracking skills, meaning Jake, Billy, Tim, Alex and a handful of others were handling most of the scouting runs. They'd pulled out the map that Jake had taken from the permit office goons at the beginning of everything and used it to plot out the places they'd already been, places they thought there might be larger groups of people and places they knew there were groups but had not yet made contact with.

It was a smaller group that had been identified as possibly unfriendly that Jake and Tim were going to observe that day. The first scouts hadn't seen any children and only a couple of disheveled women. One of the things that they had been looking for when encountering and sizing up a group was whether or not there were women and children present. They considered it a good sign to see people taking care of kids, while camps without children and women were more likely to be violent and dangerous.

This group was between the Lazy H and an oil company that had a huge supply of oil and gas just sitting in tankers waiting to be driven away. They didn't need the gas right now, but they would eventually and they didn't want to lose it to someone else, someone that might not be as good of people as they had at the Lazy H. They hadn't been able to scout the oil company property, just what they could see through binoculars from a distance. The group they were observing had scouts that covered the road that they would need to use in order to retrieve the tankers, which meant they would have to either make friends with this group or eliminate them before they could move on the tankers.

The council had spent hours trying to decide what to do. Ultimately they decided that they needed more information before they could decide to kill a whole group of people without making an attempt at friendly contact. Alex was the only one that wanted to go in guns blazing, but she quickly realized she was alone in that opinion and backed down, letting everyone else appease their consciences.

When Jake had volunteered to go on this scouting mission two days ago, he and Alex had argued, their first argument since their relationship had changed.

"I just don't understand why you have to go, though," Alex said as they got ready for bed that night. "There's others that volunteered."

"Ya want me ta let Tim go out there with jus' anyone," Jake replied before ducking into the bathroom to change into his pajamas behind the door.

"Of course not. I just hate that you're running towards the danger," Alex said as they traded places so she could change. When she emerged from the bathroom Jake stopped her and pulled her into his arms. He kissed her forehead and tilted her chin up to look her in the eyes.

"Now ya know how I feel," he said with an impish grin. "Ya gotta trust me, Al. Like I trust ya ta always come back ta me. Worked too hard ta get ya ta lose ya now. We'll be back in two days, just like the plan," he said kissing her on the nose and her cheeks before gently and briefly kissing her lips. Alex sighed and rested her forehead on Jake's chest.

"I know. I'm just scared… two days is too long," she whispered into his chest.

"We been over this. We gotta go on foot and it'll take too much time to get there. I wanna make sure we got enough time ta really see who they are. There's a lot riding on this decision," Jake said, nuzzling his nose into her neck as he hugged her close to his body.

"How're the fightin' midgets comin'," Billy asked Alex, bringing her back to the present. Billy had wandered over from the barn where he and Ellie were doing basic maintenance on a couple of the trucks.

"They're all doing really well, except for Tommy. That boy won't do anything I say. He just antagonizes Sally to no end. They used to be such good friends, I don't know what happened," Alex said.

"You serious? He's a thirteen year old boy - he's givin' her shit cuz he likes her," Billy said with a laugh.

"Yeah, well, Sally's just about had enough. He's gonna end up getting his ass kicked if he doesn't knock it off," Alex said.

"And that'll probably make him like her even more," Billy said with a huge grin. He nodded to Alex to follow him; she nodded to Sally who took over the entire class. Alex followed Billy a little ways away from the group so they were out of earshot.

"So what's up," Alex asked Billy when he stopped walking.

"Just wanted to check with you about your plans for the rest of the day. I figured with Jake leavin' you would want to take Sally out for some trainin'," Billy said, offering Alex a cigarette and a light. They had gotten lucky and come across a delivery truck behind the general store that apparently had been there to deliver cigarettes when everything went down. The guy must have been at the beginning of his route because the truck was practically full, with a variety of cigarettes. Zach had earned major points for the discovery.

Alex took the cigarette and smiled at Billy. "It's like you're a mind reader or something," she said. "Am I really that predictable?"

"Just to those of us payin' attention," Billy replied. "Ain't much goin' on here, Sally's chores can be handled by Zach for one day, even though the horses don't like him nearly as much as they like Sal. You weren't scheduled for a run tomorrow anyway and since we don't have to have a burial/disposal team everyday anymore I got plenty of people to cover you two being gone. Any idea where you're goin'?"

Before Alex could respond, a shrill scream pierced the air, coming from where the kids were practicing. Alex took off running with Billy on her heels and a few others that had been within earshot.

"GET OFF ME," Tommy yelled from the ground where he was pinned under Sally with his face down in the dirt and his arm wrenched behind his back painfully.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON," Alex bellowed as she came upon the scene.

"She punched me in the face and threw me on the ground," Tommy cried from the ground.

"Sally, let him up," Alex said as she pulled the girl off. "What happened?"

"He tried to grab my knives," Sally said calmly.

"Is that true," Billy asked Tommy who was slowly getting to his feet.

"She wouldn't let me see them when I told her to give them to me," Tommy whined.

"She doesn't have to," Alex said stiffly. "Serves you right."

Tommy looked from Alex to Billy. "You mean she's not gonna get in trouble for hitting me," Tommy cried.

"What's going on? Tommy, why are you bleeding," Shelly asked as she pushed through the growing crowd to her little brother's side.

Billy quickly explained the situation to Shelly who took one look at her brother and knew that Billy was telling the truth.

"What in god's name is wrong with you, boy," she exclaimed, smacking him over the back of the head. "You've got no business playing with knives. Can I take him back to the trailer Billy or do you want to add something else," Shelly asked.

"You can take him," Billy said. "This happens again, boy, and you and I are gonna have an unpleasant conversation, you understand," Billy threatened, leaning down into Tommy's face. Tommy tried to shrink back without getting too close to his sister and nodded his head.

The crowd began to disperse and Alex dismissed the children before she and Sally followed Billy back to the barn.

"So where you two off to then," Billy asked as Ellie handed him a wrench and he got back to work.

"I was thinking we could work on knife throwing if we could find some live targets. I thought we might press west, to the furthest places we cleared. See if there are any strays," Alex said.

"We're going out," Sally asked excitedly. "What about the horses?"

"Don't worry about it, Zach is gonna cover you for the day," Alex said.

"West sounds good. Haven't had anyone check out that way for a while. I take it you'll be going on horseback since there's no road that way," Billy asked.

Alex nodded. They finished planning, Alex deciding that they would be back by dinner the following evening. She and Sally hurried back to the house to pack a few items and returned to the barn to saddle the horses and then headed out.


	2. Chapter 2 Only Time Will Tell

Jake and Tim made good time to the observation point, arriving just before noon. They'd been extra careful, making sure that their tracks were covered and being extra diligent in looking for signs of others. They hadn't seen anything so far that was fresher than a few days old.

As they approached the bushes on the knoll above the encampment, Tim and Jake crouched down to crawl into the brush. Slowly but quietly they inched into position on their bellies until they had a good view of the camp and they were completely hidden in the bushes. They pulled out their binoculars and began scanning the scene before them for anything that would help them decide whether they had to kill these people or not.

Tim saw something and motioned to Jake. Jake followed his line and saw a young girl being pushed ahead of a man with a gun; her hands were tied in front of her body. Jake clenched his jaw and gritted his teeth. As much as he wanted to do something, they had to just wait and watch.

The next few hours revealed nothing to indicate their treatment of that girl was unusual. They saw two more bound girls being pushed around and two young women that were close to Alex's age, Jake guessed. They were being pulled by their upper arms towards a shed. They were violently shoved inside and locked in.

By the time the sun had started to set Jake had seen more than enough to make up his mind. They would leave under the cover of darkness and report back to the group. Now that they had the info to make a decision action needed to follow sooner rather than later. They didn't want to be out here any longer than necessary.

Jake and Tim stealthily made their way back the same way they'd come. Neither spoke. The full moon allowed them to make easily navigate the scrub oak back in the direction of the road, which they would follow until they came to the property they were going to cut across.

They'd been walking for about an hour when Jake suddenly got a weird feeling. He held his hand up for Tim to stop; at the same moment he heard a sickening thump and Tim grunted in pain.

Jake saw a glint of moonlight on metal in the distance beyond Tim. He grabbed Tim and pulled him behind a tree to their right. Tim was holding his shoulder, applying as much pressure as he could to the gunshot. Jake could see that he was coherent and able to move for the moment, so he nodded Tim in the direction they needed to run before turning and firing several bursts in the direction the shot had come from. He heard a grunt as he turned to follow Tim; at least he'd hit one of them.

Tim gradually began to slow as they ran. Jake hadn't heard any sounds of pursuit for a while, but they weren't even close to being safe yet, out here in the open. When they found a spot with some cover, Jake motioned for Tim to stop. He leaned up against a tree and Jake pulled his shirt away to get a better look at it.

As far as gun shots went, this was a lucky one. The moonlight allowed Jake to see the entrance wound and he felt the back of Tim's shoulder for the exit, sighing in relief when he felt the hole. Jake rigged up a bandage and sling from his and Tim's long-sleeved shirts. After listening carefully to the night around them and not hearing anything of concern, Jake set them back on the trail for home.

It didn't take long for Jake to know for certain that they were being followed. It was only a fraction of a second but Jake heard it clear as day - a quickly muffled cough. He didn't let on that he'd heard anything but he began to slightly alter their course. He couldn't risk Tim's life by taking a detour; he was still bleeding and needed stitches. Jake also couldn't just lead them back to the ranch and hope that the main road watch would take them out in time.

Jake and Tim had a whispered conversation as they walked. When they came to a small stream a few miles from the road to the ranch, Jake doubled back while Tim continued on, leaving a clear trail. Jake found a good hiding spot away from the water. He settled in to wait for their shadows to appear. He didn't have long to wait, they were closer than Jake had thought. They walked into view about ten minutes after he'd settled in. Jake had assumed there would be three or four of them. Instead, there were six, six big, burly men. Jake thought they looked like they would fit in with the men that abused women and children.

Jake quickly tried to form a plan of attack. He only had a few moments before they realized there was only one set of prints on the other side of the creek, that is, if they bothered to look. Jake made up his mind and began shooting the men that were closest to him first. Because of the silencer Jake was able to take out two men before a third noticed the man next to him drop. Jake took the third man out, but not before a broken warning flew from his lips.

The remaining three men ducked behind cover but they didn't know Jake's exact location. He hoped they assumed there were two of them covering them, not just the one. Jake peeked around the large tree he was behind; he could just make out the fourth man in the shadows. Jake got a good shot off, striking the man in the forehead. At the same moment, the fifth man suddenly jumped up and charged in the direction Jake had shot from. As he rounded the tree his face met with the butt of Jake's AR. The body went limp and dropped to the ground.

The last man had come out of hiding and was training his gun on Jake while Jake aimed his gun back at him. Time slowed and Jake thought for a moment that this was it, that he had made promises to Alex he wouldn't be able to keep because this asshole had gotten the drop on him. Jake was about to pull the trigger when the sound of a silenced pistol shot reached his ears and the man dropped to the ground, revealing Tim leaning against a tree behind him.

Jake tied up the fifth man, the man he knocked out with the butt of his gun then moved from body to body, knifing them to make sure they didn't turn and taking all the weapons and ammunition he could find. He rearranged the packs of the strangers, filling them with ammo, weapons and any food they'd found. There were a couple of guns that they wouldn't be able to carry back with them, even using the prisoner as a pack mule. Jake removed the firing pins and stuck them in his pocket before finding a safe place to hide the now useless weapons. He intended to come back on collect them when they made their move on the camp. Jake woke up the prisoner and loaded two packs on him after helping the man to his feet. Jake helped Tim up and they continued walking the last few miles home.

It was just after midnight when they approached the dirt road to the ranch. The two guards on duty greeted them quietly and radioed for a truck when they saw that Tim was injured. Billy and Doc arrived shortly in a pickup; Jake explained what had happened, especially the part about the women and children being held captive.

They took Tim straight to the guest house, which had been set up as a clinic with all the hospital supplies they could scavenge from the clinic in town. Over the last six months the group had even managed to bring in a general practice doctor and a second year nursing student. They rarely had to use the facility, but it had already saved a couple lives. The doctor and Doc quickly got to work on Tim, deeming his injury minor and sending Billy and Jake out to deal with the prisoner, who had been left in the back of the truck under guard.

They drove to the barn and dragged the man into the tool room. It had light and all the instruments they might need to loosen the man's tongue. They still had four or five hours before people started getting up for the day and Billy and Jake wanted to deal with this with as few prying eyes as possible. Jake hoped it wouldn't come to that. Billy was clearly in the mood to play "bad cop" and Jake hoped that would be all the incentive the man needed.

Jake pulled the gag from the man's mouth after dropping him to a seated position on the floor in the middle of the room. Jake re-tied the prisoner's hands in front of his body.

"Please don't kill me," the man begged. "I'll do anything you say, tell you anything you want to know," he pleaded.

"You part of tha group camped a couple miles east from where ya ambushed us," Jake asked.

"Yeah. Been with them since the beginning," was the response.

"How many in the camp," Billy growled. He was clearly itching to make something bleed.

"About thirty, give or take," the man replied.

"Why ya got little girls tied up and women locked in tha shed," Jake asked.

The prisoner became visually uncomfortable at the question. "Look man, that's not me! I don't take any part in that!"

"Any part in what," Billy yelled in the man's face as he flexed his fists at his sides.

"Taking the girls! They go out and look for survivors and take their shit and their kids… use 'em up and throw 'em away… I swear to Christ I never took any part in it! You gotta believe me! I -"

Billy had been circling the prisoner as he talked and had come to a stop behind him when he said that they had to believe him. Before the man could finish his next sentence, Billy had kicked him in the back, squarely in the kidney. The man fell face first onto the floor, gasping for breath.

"You knew what was being done to them, but you stayed and did nothing! That's just as bad as taking part, maybe even worse," Billy yelled, landing a kick to the man's ribs.

Jake nodded to Billy to back off, which he did reluctantly, and helped the prisoner back to a sitting position.

"Tell us everythin' there's ta know 'bout yer camp," Jake drawled. "How many fighting men? What kind of weapons? What's yer perimeter security like?"

"Mostly AK-47's. One of the guys said he was a militia man, part of a larger group in the area. I think most of the guns came from his own personal collection. Most of them that are still there knew each other before the outbreak. They're middle aged, mostly in their forties and in decent shape. They aren't too smart and usually just bully their way through things. They got eight to ten men walking the perimeter at all times," the prisoner said.

"That wha'cha were doin' out there, patrollin'," Jake asked.

"No, we were coming back from a hunt. Ended up out further than planned and didn't get back until after dark. One of the guys saw you two sneaking away from the camp so we followed," the prisoner answered.

"Your count of fighting men include the ones we killed tonight," Jake asked.

"No. That would put them at less than twenty fighters. They'll probably increase the number of people on the perimeter when they discover the bodies of my group. Or they might come looking for a fight. No one's ever challenged us before. Can't imagine Joe will take it too well," the man said.

"Who's Joe," Billy asked.

"The leader. He's the one who makes the decisions about everything… he's the reason for the girls…," the prisoner said.

"He can't be the only one that uses 'em," Jake said with a disgusted look on his face.

"No, he's not. But he seems to be the one that enjoys it the most," the prisoner said darkly.

"You think he'll try to bring the fight to us," Jake asked.

"If he can find a trail, I'm sure he will. He doesn't plan too much, just counts on having superior fire power. It's worked for him so far," the prisoner said.

Jake helped the prisoner to his feet and he and Billy took him out to the horse trailer that Zach had cleaned out while they were interrogating the prisoner. There was a metal chair chained to the eye bolts in the floor, which they sat the prisoner in before securing him to the chair with zip ties at his feet and wrists. Jake replaced the gag in the man's mouth and they left him there, locking the trailer from the outside and setting an armed guard.

Billy and Jake returned to the guest house to check on Tim, who was fine. He'd lost some blood, but with a few days' rest he'd be back to normal, aside from the shoulder. They thought that the bullet might have chipped the collarbone, but without taking an x-ray they wouldn't know for sure. Either way, it wouldn't make a difference on the healing time; there wasn't anything they could do to treat a chipped collarbone, not even before the world fell apart. It would just have to heal on its own.

Jake was exhausted, as was everyone else. They left Doc and the doctor at the guest house and made their way to the barn.

"Alrigh' boys, I'll see ya in tha mornin' not too early," Jake said.

"Oh, shit," Billy said. "I almost forgot. Alex took Sally out on an overnight, said she wanted to get some trainin' on live targets. You know how she is, gotta have somethin' to keep her mind busy. Said they'd be back tonight by supper."

Jake was disappointed, but he understood why Alex had left. He probably would have done the same thing. "Did she say where they're goin'," Jake asked.

"West, to check the outermost areas that we cleared. Since we haven't had anything make it to our fences she figured they might have to go a ways to find live targets," Billy said.

"Shit. Well, I hope they don't run in ta any trouble. I'll see ya in a few hours I guess," Jake said as he turned to head to the house.

When Jake woke hours later to the sun in his face he was momentarily confused when he reached over to Alex's side of the bed and found it cold and empty. He rolled over onto her side and buried his face in her pillow, breathing in her scent. He missed her, no doubt about it. In the months since they'd been together they'd spent nights apart, mostly in similar scenarios, one of them out on a run overnight or Alex out training with Sally. But for some reason, this night had been more difficult to get through than the others. Jake wasn't quite sure why, but he thought it might have something to do with the fight and Tim getting shot and the fact that he had quite literally barely escaped with his life. He just wanted Alex here so he could wrap her up in his arms and lose himself in her scent. There was something about her smell that was so comforting to Jake that he was often able to lose himself in her and forget for a while all the horrible things they were living through.

He forced himself to get out of bed and down to the barn to meet with the boys. They hadn't planned anything major that day, so it would likely just be a day for working around the ranch and planning the attack on the camp. Alex would probably be unhappy if they did most of the planning without her, but they needed to make a plan and get moving, maybe even before Alex and Sally got back.

If the prisoner was right and Joe was going to bring the attack to them, they needed to be ready and they likely only had the one day to do so. At best Joe would have waited until this morning to go out looking for his hunting group that never returned. Jake was sure their tracks would be easy to follow, as big as the group had been. He now regretted not taking the time to at least hide the bodies, but there wasn't anything he could do about it at this point.

Jake found Billy in the barn; Tim was nowhere to be seen. There was lots of activity - groups getting ready to head out to the gardens and the orchards, groups getting ready to change shifts with the perimeter team and the main road watch. Jake smoked a cigarette while he waited for Billy to finish with the group he was currently talking to.

"S'pose we should start plannin' our attack," Jake said as Billy walked up to him. "How's Tim this mornin'," he asked.

"Tim's fine. Sleepin' like a princess. Yeah, we need to come up with a plan, I don't think we can wait for Alex to get back," Billy said. "Which is too bad cuz she always thinks outside of the box."

"Yeah, she won't be too happy that she missed this," Jake said. "So, you, me, Tim and Ellie then? Meet when you get this wrapped up," Jake asked. Billy nodded. "Alrigh'. I'll let Ellie know. Gonna grab somethin' ta eat," Jake said as he walked towards the bunkhouse.

He didn't see Ellie outside, so he went in and made himself a plate of breakfast - scrambled eggs, bacon and biscuits - and retreated outside to eat. They had moved some tables in the flat area in front of the bunkhouse so people had somewhere to eat and Jake took a seat at an empty table, keeping his eyes out for Ellie. Jake wasn't at all surprised when Kara sat down next to him with J.J. in her lap.

"Hi, darlin'," she cooed. "What ya got goin' on today," she asked as she put her hand on Jake's thigh.

Jake didn't look at her, he just picked her hand up and shoved it off of his leg before scooting over on the picnic bench.

"Now, now, don't be like that, baby. Here, can ya hold J.J. for me for a minute," she asked, scooting closer to him.

Jake finished shoveling his food in his mouth and shot up from the table. "God damn it, Kara, back tha fuck off! How many times I gotta tell ya I don' want ya an' I'm with Alex? Leave me alone," he said as he gathered his plate and utensils and took them back to the bunkhouse. She was waiting for him by the door when he came back out.

"How many times do I have to tell YOU that she ain't right for ya and she don't know how to take care of you like I do," she retorted. "You'll figure it out soon enough and come beggin' me to take ya back. You have to stop ignoring J.J., Jake. He loves you and misses you," she whined.

Jake just shook his head. Kara was delusional and it seemed to be getting worse. A couple of months ago she had started acting like Jake had some sort of bond or duty to the kid, trying to get Jake to hold him or watch him for her. Jake and Alex had discussed the issue with Billy, who agreed with them that Jake should have as little to do with Kara and J.J. as possible. Billy talked to Kara about the problem and told her that Jake was not going to be spending any time with her or J.J., which had pissed her off to no end. She ranted to Billy that they couldn't keep Jake from them because he loved them and that she would prove Billy wrong.

After that, Kara had become less obvious, lurking in the shadows, catching Jake when he was alone without Alex and just generally acting suspicious. They still didn't have anything strong enough to justify kicking her out but her behavior was starting to make people nervous. In the last month, the council had received several complaints about Kara not pulling her share around the ranch, passing duties off to other people or just plain not doing them. They were going to have to do something about it, but no one knew what the appropriate response was.

Jake pushed past Kara on the bunkhouse steps, dodging her when she reached out for him. She called after him but Jake ignored her and kept walking, looking for Ellie, who he found under the hood of a truck around the side of the barn.

"Hey, Ell. Gonna have a meetin' in a bit ta figure out a plan ta deal with tha' camp. Ya need any help with this," he asked.

"Nah, almost done changin' the spark plugs, just need to finish connectin' the distributor cap and this piece of shit can get back out on runs," she said with a grin. "You look like shit," she said when she looked up at his face for the first time.

"Thanks," Jake said with a smirk. "Been a rough twenty four hours, an' it didn't help havin' ta deal with Kara an' all her crazy this mornin'," he explained.

"I don't know how you and Alex deal with it. It can't be easy for either of ya. Well, you know you have my vote when it finally comes to voting to kick her out," Ellie offered.

"Thanks. I was really hopin' she'd change, but it looks more an' more like she's gonna have ta go. I hate to think about what that means fer tha kid. Ain't his fault his momma's bat shit crazy," Jake lamented.

Ellie finished putting the truck back together and then she and Jake met up with Billy and Tim, who had finally crawled out of bed. He was paler than usual and definitely not his normal chipper self, but he was there and ready to make plans to kill the people that shot him.

Not wanting to be overheard, the council members retreated to the main house, along with Leon, who'd been a sergeant major in the first Gulf War and had real battlefield experience. He'd given the council a number of good ideas for defense strategies and had been integral to their win over the first group of attackers a few months prior.

"We gotta small window to take tha fight ta them," Jake said. "I think it might be better to wait for the attack to come to us. There's plenty of places between them an' us that we could use to our advantage. Maybe they won't be expectin' us ta be waitin' fer them. I didn't do tha best job coverin' our tracks back here, not after Tim was hit. Prisoner said they got no more 'n twenty fighting men. If they leave some ta protect tha camp, tha fight should be in our favor," Jake said.

"Do you really think we can trust him, the prisoner," Ellie asked. "I mean, what if there's really forty men and he's just lying? He's got no reason to be honest with us."

"True," Jake said. "He seemed pretty interested in keeping his life; he had to know that if he lied Billy would kill 'im as soon as he found out."

"Why don't you give me some time with him," Leon said in his low, gravelly Sam Elliott-like voice. "I got a couple tricks up my sleeve that should loosen his lips. Either way, I'll make sure he's telling the truth."

"How much time do ya need," Jake asked.

"Shouldn't take more than a couple of hours," Leon said. "I know time is of the essence. I think there's some things we can go ahead and plan, regardless of how many attackers there are. You guys should start picking the fighting crew. We've got at least fifty fighters, right?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Billy said. "You think we should put everyone that can fight out there and not leave a defense here?"

"I think we should send out scouts so we have as much advanced notice of them coming as possible. If we're dealing with twenty, like the prisoner says, then it should be over quickly with few casualties. If there are more than twenty, we're gonna want to have as many people out there on the front lines as possible. I'll have a better idea of what we'll need once I talk to the prisoner. I'll meet you guys back here in two hours with an update, for now, let's just get a list of names and resources, especially silenced weapons," Leon said as he rose to leave. The group nodded to him and got down to business.

§

An hour and a half later the council had come up with a list of names of fighters, a detailed list of the silenced weapons they had and the amount of ammunition for each. Leon returned shortly after they completed the list. He was sweaty, his hands and forearms were covered in blood and what looked like motor oil and his clothes as well.

"Well, it seems the prisoner was telling the truth," Leon said. Jake handed him a rag and Leon began wiping his arms down. "Sorry for the mess, figured we wanted results sooner rather than later, required me to get a little dirty. So, actual count is twenty two fighting men, last time he was at the camp there were six women being held in the shed and five children, three girls and two boys, all under the age of ten, that was two days ago. There are six men that never leave the camp, but our prisoner is unclear as to why, they aren't too old and they aren't injured, but the prisoner seems to think that they either can't or won't fight for some reason. And for some reason the leader just lets them. They have lots of guns but only a few silenced weapons and only a few of them are actually decent shots. Said the guy that hit Tim was lucky, never hit anything before even though he was in the hunting group."

"How did you get all of this information," Ellie asked.

"I can promise you don't want to know. Let's just say I used a couple of techniques I picked up from the Iraqi's during the war," Leon replied. "Motor oil is good for more than just lubricating an engine block."

"What else did he say, anythin'," Billy asked.

"He believes Joe will bring the fight to us tomorrow and that they won't be organized about it. Said they will likely leave the camp unguarded with just the six men that don't fight. Point of interest, he says they like to do most of their raiding at night. Says they only have a few night vision scopes, but they like to fight at night because it's unexpected and they think it gives them an advantage. I suppose when you're talking about raiding camps of families that's true," Leon said.

"So we've got less than a day to prepare," Ellie said. "We should expect them tomorrow night and we have to have our spotters in place well before then. You think we can spread them out, maybe a couple of miles apart and give them the walkies? That way the ones that are furthest out can radio back when they first see them and the others can be aware of the direction they're coming from so they can move or hide?"

"We should have ten to twelve people as scouts, stationed a mile apart in places they can see but not be seen. They shouldn't move once they've settled in to keep watch. They should have the walkies, that way we will know how many are coming and how long it's going to take them to reach us. The scouts should all have the night vision scopes, assuming we have enough for everyone. They should have a meeting point that they retreat to once the attackers have passed, then they can regroup and provide a flank attack from the southeast along with another group of ten for a flank attack from the northeast. We want the flanks to remain stealthy, hidden until we need them. The flanks will come into play when they try to retreat. We can't let any of them get away; it's got to be clean from the start. Then we can hit the camp, take out the rest of the hostiles and rescue the prisoners," Leon said.

It was quiet for a moment as the group let Leon's words sink in. They were going to kill them all.

"Anyone have any objections to Leon's plan? Sounds pretty good to me," Billy said. Everyone nodded.

"There's still plenty of time for us to go out there and take a look at the land, see what would work best where," Leon said. "We should recon now. The longer we wait the riskier it is."

Jake, Billy and Leon went to recon the vineyard across the main road where they wanted the flanking groups to hide. They spent about an hour walking around and looking for the best places for the groups to hide and the areas that would likely be used by the attackers to enter the area and retreat. When Leon was satisfied with the locations, the men headed back to the Lazy H to report to the group and begin preparing the 'troops' for the coming attack.


	3. Chapter 3 Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Alex and Sally arrived at their destination with about three hours before nightfall. They double checked the house that they'd previously cleared and then swept the perimeter, making sure the fences were all still intact. The fences were still in good shape and they only came across one lone dead one that needed to be put down. After they were sure the area was clear, they put the horses in the barn with some feed that was still left (and not moldy) and returned to the house to set up their camp for the evening.

After a cold dinner, Alex and Sally set up their sound alarms at the entrances to the house - they strung empty cans on twine and tied it across the stairs so that anything trying to come up the stairs would shake the cans and wake them up. Alex hadn't seen any signs that anyone else was around or had been around, but they needed to be safe. After the run where Jake and Ellie had to kill that kid that was hiding in a house that had already been cleared, crews had been extra careful about checking things out and looking for any sign of a human presence.

Alex had been on the initial run to clear this place. The mailbox still said "The Anderson's" on it, but Alex didn't see any of them when they cleaned out the property. She'd gone to school with the girl that lived here, Jenny, but they never did come across her body.

The run had been a close one. Zach had stabbed a large dead one in the eye; it dropped to the ground and he moved on. Ellie came along behind him moments later and the dead one grabbed her leg and bit her before she could even react. Luckily she'd worn her cowboy boots that day and the bite didn't penetrate the leather.

Zach had understandably freaked out. He was sure he'd stabbed the thing right, just like the dozens of others he'd killed. Alex inspected the body and she agreed with Zach. It was clear he'd impaled the thing in the eye right up to the hilt of his knife, but for whatever reason it hadn't penetrated the brain stem. Zach refused to go on another run, calling himself a liability and a danger to others.

Finally, after a month of his moping, Ellie had enough and she told him that if he didn't get his shit together and start helping out again she was going to kick his ass and then he'd wish she'd been bitten. The threat/joke was enough to get Zach off the sidelines and back in the action.

Alex and Sally retired early; they were going to be on the move all day the next day, so they needed the rest. Especially if Sally was going to be working on her knife throwing - it was exhausting throwing knives all day long.

"Do you know why Tommy is being so mean to me," Sally asked as they laid there in the dark.

Alex couldn't help but emit a small laugh. "Billy thinks it's cuz he likes ya," Alex said. "I'm inclined to agree with him, though you might have solved the problem by kicking his ass this afternoon."

Sally was quiet for a while, but Alex knew she was just thinking and there would be more coming from her eventually.

"You mean like Jake likes you," Sally whispered.

"Well, I don't know about that. Jake never harassed me like Tommy harasses you, but then we were never the same age," Alex replied.

"I don't really like him. He's mean," Sally said.

"That's okay, Sal, you don't have to like people just because they like you," Alex said.

"Like Aaron," Sally asked.

"Yes, like Aaron," Alex agreed.

After that Sally was quiet and it wasn't long before Alex heard the girl's breathing even out as she fell asleep. Alex followed not long after.

Alex woke suddenly in the middle of the night but she couldn't figure out what had woken her. She checked her watch: 2:37 a.m. Alex laid there and listened to the still night outside. She could hear the wind blowing through the pine trees and crickets and frogs singing their night songs. An owl called from somewhere nearby, followed by what Alex was certain was a blue jay call.

Alex sat up, ears straining for more sounds but hearing nothing. She woke Sally with a hand over her mouth and motioned for the girl to get dressed. Alex was 100% certain that something was wrong. Blue Jays weren't nocturnal; there wasn't even the pre-light of dawn on the horizon yet. And even if it HAD been a real bird, there was no way it would have called out so close to an owl. Alex was sure those calls had been manmade.

Sally silently geared up and readied her weapons as Alex checked outside through a crack in the curtains. She saw man-sized shadows moving near the barn, at least two, but she couldn't be certain there weren't more. Alex motioned to Sally to take over, indicating where she'd seen the shadows moving, and then went to check the back of the house.

Alex was angered to see two men approaching the house crouched low to the ground. _They know we're here,_ Alex thought to herself. She quietly moved back to Sally and they had a whispered conversation.

"There's two coming up the back porch, think I saw two out there by the barn too," Alex told her.

"I saw one man go into the barn but he hasn't come out yet," Sally offered. "What do we do?"

Alex suspected these men weren't here looking to make friends. They seemed to know that someone was here in the house, and if they were friendly they wouldn't be sneaking up on people in the middle of the night.

"We're going to wait for them to come to us, then we'll surprise them," Alex said.

She quickly outlined her plan to the girl then they got into their hiding places, Alex in the back, Sally in the front.

They waited.

And waited.

Alex finally checked her watch: 3:41 a.m.. The sun would start lighting the sky in an hour and the men would lose their imagined advantage. Alex now regretted waiting instead of just sniping them through the glass and getting it over with.

Finally, Alex heard the bird calls again before a quiet, booted step sounded on the back porch. Alex hoped Sally was still ready, there was no way for her to signal to the girl that it was time. They were past the sound alarms and were now at the back door. The handle jiggled quietly before stopping - Alex had locked the doors before they went to bed.

After a moment the door burst open and two large figured quickly stepped into the kitchen. Alex aimed her gun at the first man's head and pulled the trigger. Alex could hear noise coming from the front room but she couldn't tell what was happening. Alex shot the second man as soon as the first dropped to the ground and quickly pulled herself out from under the kitchen table to help Sally.

In the living room, Sally was standing over a man holding the muzzle of her gun to his forehead. The man was holding his neck and groaning in pain.

"Please don't kill me," he begged. "We just came here looking for supplies, heard the horses, thought we'd take them. That's all!"

Alex looked around and saw that only the one man had come inside. "Where's the other one," Alex growled at him.

"What other one? It was just the three of us," he cried.

"I know there's at least one more out there, I saw him," Alex said. "He still in the barn," she asked. When the man didn't answer, Alex bashed him in the face with the butt of her gun, knocking him out. She and Sally tied him up and gagged him.

"Come on, let's go check the barn," Alex said as she readied her gun. Sally followed her out into the night.

The barn door was still open and Alex could hear talking. Alex and Sally stepped into the dark interior, slipping into the shadows. Alex held her hand up, stopping Sally in her tracks. They were close enough to hear what the voices were saying.

"...I don't care what you think, we're gonna take these girls. It's too easy. Been months since I had any pussy and those two looked so young and tasty… quit bein' a fucking baby. Come on, let's go see what's taking those idiots so long," the man's voice said.

The men exited the stall they had been in and Alex could tell their steps were getting close. As the first man came around the corner Alex let off a shot to his head and the body dropped to the ground. Sally fired her weapon at the second man who had thrown his arms in the air as soon as the first man slid to the ground, but not before Sally shot him in the neck.

The man grasped at the spurting neck wound as his knees buckled and he fell on top of the first man's body. Alex flicked the light on her AR on and shone it in the dying man's face.

"Where is your camp," she asked hurriedly. The man's eyes just widened and he faintly shook his head. "Are there more of you than the ones at the house," Alex pressed.

The man's head listed off to the side as his last breath passed his lips. Alex wasn't going to get any answers from a dead man.

Alex and Sally searched the bodies and removed their weapons, only a couple of knives and a glock with half a clip, leaving the bodies where they were. They returned to the house and finished the two men Alex had shot and dragged their bodies out to the barn before securing the barn door and returning to the house to deal with the live prisoner, who was still out cold.

Alex and Sally dragged him to a seated position and removed the gag. Alex smacked him across the face, but the man remained asleep. Grabbing a bottle of water from her pack, Alex poured some on his head. The man sputtered as he came to.

"What the fuck," he yelled as he spat out a mouthful of blood on the floor. He moved his tongue around in his mouth, then spit out a tooth that Alex had knocked out as well. "You fucking bitches are going to get it," he yelled.

"You should be nicer. Your friends are already dead, so they can't help you," Alex admonished. "Looks like you're stuck with us bitches. So, how shall we pass the time," Alex asked him with a dangerous smile.

"Fuck you. I ain't tellin' you shit. You might as well kill me now, whore," he spat.

"Have it your way. We were looking for moving targets anyway, weren't we, Sal," Alex said. "We'll just keep you comfortable until the sun comes up," she said.

Alex adjusted the man's ropes, hogtying him with his legs and arms tied behind his back and connected to a rope around his neck so that if he tried to lower his legs he would choke himself. It was purely meant to be torture - Alex was hoping that before they killed him the man would volunteer some information about a camp or larger group. Either way, they would use him as their moving target since there didn't seem to be many dead around here.

Alex and Sally moved out of earshot but stayed where they could see the prisoner.

"You were just trying to scare him, right? We aren't really going to use him for target practice are we," Sally asked. She looked concerned.

"Well, a real human trying to dodge an attack is better practice than a dead one that just stands there, right," Alex asked her.

"I guess, but it seems a bit much," Sally replied.

"Sally, this man is part of a group that was going to kidnap and rape us. You heard the man in the barn. Is that someone that deserves our mercy? Should we be nice to him simply because he and his friends FAILED to do what they intended," she asked the girl.

Sally was quiet for a moment while she thought it over. "No, I guess you're right. We can't let him go and risk him coming back or getting backup or doing it to someone else. So are we going to torture him for information," Sally asked. "Like in the movies?"

Alex laughed. "No, not like in the movies. I have a couple of ideas, but we don't want to incapacitate him, he needs to be able to run…"

Alex explained her plan to Sally over the next hour while they waited for the sun to come up. When the grey light of dawn started to push out the inky darkness of night, Alex and Sally untied the prisoner's legs and took him outside to a fenced pasture. Sally had been doing really well with the throwing knives but mostly with stationary targets. Alex really wanted her to have some practice trying to hit something moving. Sally stood on one end of the enclosure, about twenty yards away, her first knife in her hand, waiting. Alex hovered over the prisoner.

"I'm gonna cut your ties and you're gonna run, don't matter which way. Now, just to be fair, I've told Sally to make this last as long as possible, so you're gonna wanna do your best to dodge her, make it a challenge for her. She's still learning, so there's a chance she'll miss, it's a small chance, but still a chance. Your odds look considerably better than they did two hours ago when I was just gonna shoot you and get it over with. Now you're out in the fresh air getting some exercise," she said with a laugh. Alex raised her hand to Sally, letting her know it was time.

Alex left the gag on but cut the ropes around the man's wrists and ankles, jumping back as his legs were freed. As expected, he lunged for Alex, who had side stepped him in time and was waiting with her AR trained at his chest. He looked at her for a moment before turning and running in the opposite direction, stupidly right towards Sally. Sally threw her first knife, hitting the man in his right shoulder, followed by her second knife into his left lung. Sally quickly threw two more knives, one in his stomach and one in his right thigh, both of which slowed the man down considerably.

He was getting close to Sally and Alex was ready to drop him with a shot to the head if it looked like she wouldn't be able to handle it.

Sally pulled out her hunting knife before the man reached her but she stood her ground waiting for him to come to her. She side stepped him when he tried to tackle her and she used his momentum to force him to the ground on his stomach. Sally jumped on the man's back and slid her knife up under his ribcage on the left side and stabbed upwards, all the way to the hilt of her hunting knife, puncturing his lung. Sally jumped off the man and removed her knife while he laid there gasping for breath, blood oozing from his mouth. Sally pushed him with her foot to roll him over. The throwing knives in his upper body had been further lodged into his shoulder and lung when he'd hit the ground; the stomach wound was bleeding profusely but the knife was missing.

Sally realized this at the same time the man tried to stab her in the leg with the knife. Sally was just fast enough, moving just out of reach before he could hit her. Sally stomped on the wrist with the knife forcing him to drop it just as Alex reached them.

"Nice moves, kid," Alex said as she walked up. "Didn't think you'd be able to refrain from a kill shot off the bat."

Sally smiled. "I thought about it, but I figured you'd be upset if I dropped him with my first knife."

The man on the ground was wheezing and blood bubbled out with each breath. Alex stuck the toe of her boot into the knife wound Sally had inflicted on him hoping to hit his heart and put pressure on it causing the man to moan.

"Just kill me you fucking bitch," he wheezed out causing blood to trickle down the sides of his mouth.

"You sure you don't want to tell us about your friends," Alex asked sweetly.

"Ain't like I'm gonna live much longer, no reason to tell you shit," he said.

"Fair enough," Alex said. "I don't mind making your last moments as painful as possible. Since you like raping little girls, you don't get to go quick."

Alex re-tied the man's hands and replaced the gag in his mouth. He was large, but between the two of them, Alex and Sally managed to drag him back to the barn. He'd lost a lot of blood and could barely breath, he wasn't able to put up much of a fight. Alex could hear the groan of the dead inside the barn. They hadn't stabbed the brain of the man Sally shot in the neck and he'd reanimated while they were gone.

"Sally, go pound on the wall around the corner to draw the dead to you so I can open the door and drag this miserable piece of shit to his last meal," Alex said. Sally nodded and went around the corner. When she started knocking on the wall, the dead one wandered off to the sound. Alex waited a moment, then opened the door, dragged the man inside and deposited him just inside the door.

"Hey! Ugly! Come get dinner," she called to the dead one who had turned its attention to the smell of blood. Alex backed out of the door and latched it behind her. Moments passed before they could hear the man screaming into the gag and the sound of his flesh being torn open. Alex pulled out a cigarette and lit it, then they stood there and waited until they could no longer hear the man's muted screams and moans.

"What are we waiting for," Sally asked.

"Gotta wait to put him down," Alex said. "Don't want to leave the dead out here to get someone else. Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it."

"I can do it," Sally said. "They're both technically my responsibility since they were both my kills." Sally gently nudged Alex out of the way and unlatched the door. "Don't worry, I got this," she said as she stepped inside. Alex heard a rustle of clothing and a thunk and squish as Sally finished the dead off. She emerged from the dim interior of the barn after a few minutes, slipping her throwing knives into their holster. Alex latched the barn door and they retreated to the house to collect their belongings. They silently packed the few belongings they'd brought and headed back into the morning.

"You know, I hit every spot I aimed for," Sally said with a big grin. "I thought I'd be able to hit his heart from that angle, from the back, but I guess the blade wasn't long enough," she lamented.

"Could be. You could have just nicked it or maybe the angle wasn't quite sharp enough. Next time you can try stabbing through the ribs, right below the shoulder blade on the left side. You want to insert the blade close to the spine and angle it slightly towards the midline. Or any number of other options, really. I think for our purposes it's probably better to go for more debilitating shots, knife to the lungs is usually a good one, anything that causes rapid blood loss like hitting an artery in the neck or thigh, damage to the privates; your goal is to stop the human attacker by whatever means necessary. Your aim is excellent. If you aimed for every spot you hit on him, you should be able to hit a dead one in the eye at twenty feet, easily. For our human enemies, it is more likely that we will be using guns to fight them anyway. At that point, every shot has to be a kill shot. The only time you should be using your knife on a human is if you are caught off guard or alone," Alex said.

Sally nodded in agreement. "So now where to," she asked.

"Well, we don't have to be back until dinnertime. Last night before these assholes came along I was thinking we should just scout the area a bit, see what we see, but now I'm thinking we should follow their back trail. I have a feeling that while it was just the four of them out here, there are more of them somewhere," Alex said.

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Sally said. "Then we can take the whole group of them out, stop them from doing this to anyone else."

They spread out looking for the trail, both getting frustrated the longer they went without a solid lead.

"Maybe we're thinking too hard about this," Alex said. "Did you check the road? Maybe they walked in from the road, not the woods." Sally shook her head and they both walked to the main gate, studying the ground.

"Looks like you were right," Sally exclaimed as she pointed to the ground. There in the dirt were the footprints of the four men.

"We'll leave the horses here and come back for them," Alex said. "Come on."

A few minutes later they were standing on the main road looking at the truck that was parked in the bushes on the side of the road.

"They didn't do a very good job of hiding it, did they," Alex said. "Let's see what they left behind for us."

They tore through the truck, finding a few canned goods and some bottles of water. Alex scored a half pack of cigarettes and a nice Zippo lighter. Sally found a couple of knives and a loaded .38 special under the seat. The most important find, however, was a map. Unlike the map they'd found on the permit man early on, this was just a regular map with handwritten notations on it. There were some things circled, others circled then crossed out. One area had no markings on it but was surrounded by marked areas.

"See how all these areas are crossed out or circled but everything in the middle here is blank," Alex asked Sally as she pointed to a spot on the map.

Sally nodded. "You think their camp is in that area?"

"Yep," Alex said nodding. "Why do I think that," she quizzed the girl.

Sally responded instantly, "Because it looks like they're clearing things like we did, working their way out in order."

"Exactly," Alex said with a smile. "It looks like they're working their way southeast, towards the Lazy. H," Alex said looking at the map again.

"We should check it out, right? If there are more guys out there that are like the ones that attacked us, we have to deal with them. We can't let them anywhere near our home," Sally said in a worried tone.

"Yeah, we gotta check it out before we go home," Alex said. "You're right, we don't want anyone like that close to our home."

The keys were still in the ignition, so Alex got in and drove them a few miles in the direction of the assumed camp. They ditched the truck in the trees a few miles out, wanting to approach on foot in hopes of observing without being seen. They didn't know what they might be up against and it didn't make any sense to go in guns blazing.

They had quietly trekked through the woods for a mile or so when Alex paused and looked at a group of trees to their left. She nodded her head in that direction and Sally followed her to the odd circle of pine trees that were growing in a circle, some trees closer to each other than others. Alex wedged herself between two perfectly spaced trunks and walked herself up the trees with her hands and feet pressed between them. She pulled herself up on the first sturdy branches she reached and looked around to see if she was high enough.

Alex had to climb up a bit further, but she finally found a decent spot to sit and view the surrounding area. She'd removed the scope from her rifle prior to ascending the tree; she now used it to locate the camp.

When she climbed back down thirty minutes later, Sally put the scope back on the gun while Alex tried to scrape some of the sap off her hands. Then they sat and at a quick meal while Alex explained what she saw and her plan.

"I saw the place, luckily there was a truck that drove into the gate, otherwise I might have missed it. Looks pretty well tucked into the trees, which works in our favor, I think. I saw what could have been a roof of a house or a barn, couldn't see enough to tell for sure. But I saw something even more interesting out there," Alex said, leaving Sally hanging while Alex took a drink of water.

"What? What did you see," Sally begged.

Alex swiped her sleeve across her mouth before continuing. "There's a pasture full of the dead about half a mile west of this place. It's probably them that put the dead there, but I'll be damned if I can figure out why anyone would do something so stupid. But it works well for us, they're gonna be our diversion," she said with a grin.

They backtracked a little and gave a wide berth to the camp, travelling a good part of the distance in a shallow creek. They circled the dead farm to approach from downwind so as not to rile up the dead any sooner than necessary.

Alex and Sally were both on high alert, moving carefully and constantly checking their surroundings. When they finally were sure that no one was around on the farm, they quickly moved across the open spaces towards an old shed and flatbed truck. It was a Frankenstein truck, it had been rigged into a makeshift, open top box truck with welded on iron bars and plywood. There was a ramp that flipped up and acted as a back door, latching on both sides of the truck so it didn't fall down. _Someone put some thought and energy into this thing_ , Alex thought to herself.

They moved from the truck to the small shed it was parked next to. The smell inside was horrible, death and rotting flesh. It reminded Alex of the smell of her mother's car when she'd opened the door to put her out of her misery. The odor inside the shed was oppressive and Alex wanted to run out before she vomited. An odd sight near a small table caught her eye and her desire to escape was forgotten.

Several chairs had large over coats draped over them. They were the most revolting thing Alex had seen in a long time - patches of rotten skin were shoddily sewn onto the material, along with intestines, fingers ears and other parts that were easy to sew on.

"What the fuck is that," Sally asked the thought in Alex's head.

"I've got no fucking clue… well, I mean it's clearly a coat with sewn on dead people parts, but _why_ the fuck it's here I've got no idea…" Alex explained and then drifted off. She moved to the chair and picked up the coat, examining it closer.

"What are you seeing," Sally asked her mentor.

Alex didn't immediately respond, she just walked from the chair to the table, examining the sundry items scattered about. She picked up an egg timer, turned the knob ten seconds and waited for it to go off. It rang and she quickly silenced it.

"What if someone is using this stuff to herd the dead," Alex said in a quiet voice. "I don't know why anyone would do that but I can't think of any other reason for these particular items to be together."

Sally looked through all the items on the table, picking up item after item. The one thing they all had in common was you could turn them on and they would make a delayed sound. Mostly the table was covered with various styles of kitchen timers, but there were some children's toys mixed in there too. Most of those lit up as well as make sounds.

"So they use this stuff to draw their attention and then move through the herd unnoticed keeping them moving in the right direction," Sally asked incredulously.

Alex nodded slowly. "It's like the plains Indians used to do with the buffalo herds using a buffalo skin. They'd act like calves and manipulate the moms into moving the herd in the desired direction for a hunt. This was back before they had horses," Alex explained. "It's genius, really. I mean, it's a great way to move a large group if you only have a couple of people and you can't kill them all," Alex said with a glint in her eyes.

Sally knew what was coming. "You think we should put the coats on and work the herd into the camp, don't you," Sally said with a self-satisfied grin. Alex was seeing it more as Sally became more adept and independent. She grinned back at the girl.

"Yep. You know me too well. Come on. Let's get these nasty things on and approach the pens, see if they really work," Alex said.

They both gagged their way into the coats, helping one another button them up completely. They pulled the collars up to cover as much of their faces as possible. Alex felt really defenseless; she wouldn't be able to bring her rifle or knives into play dressed like this. She hoped it didn't become an issue.

As they approached the pens slowly, the dead seemed to take no notice. They were purposely approaching from upwind so their live scent, if they still had any left, would arouse the dead, before they tried it out for real.

They walked right up to the fence without any reaction whatsoever from the dead. They were pleasantly surprised to find that this was going to work. They returned to the shed and got the map out to plan their plan their attack. The camp was less than a mile as the crow flies, but there was another ranch between the two places. Alex thought they should avoid the other farm and try to move the herd along the road and then angle them towards the side of the camp closest to the main house. It would be mostly straight, they would only have to turn them once.

They stuffed timers into their pockets and Alex grabbed a pair of wire cutters before they went back out to the pen. As a precaution, Alex separated out one of the dead, cut him open an added his entrails to their coats. Then they quietly opened the gate to the pen. Alex set the first timer and Sally stood to one side of the gate; Alex tossed the timer as far as she could in the direction she wanted them to walk and they waited next to the gate for the timer to go off.

When it did, the dead started ambling out of the fate to the sound and Alex and Sally folded in with the first few. As they approached the still chiming timer, Sally threw the next one, drawing their attention further along while Alex carefully picked up the 1st timer and silenced it. They slowly made their way to the front of the herd. The next alarm had already stopped ringing by the time they reached it. Sally picked it up and this time they hoped the herd would just continue moving because they were moving.

Luck was on their side that day and all they had to do was continue walking along slowly, like the dead would do and they rest just ambled along behind them. They were like lemmings. Filthy, rotting, deadly lemmings.

It took the better part of two hours for them to make it to the camp. Alex was the first one to approach the fence. She cut the wires while Sally prepared another alarm clock. They would only have ten seconds between throwing it and it going off and they needed to be ready with their weapons out by the time that happened. They also needed to slip[ away from the herd without attracting any followers. Alex and Sally were going to slip through the camp and take out anyone they saw.

Alex realized that they didn't know for sure if these guys were the same ones keeping the herd of the dead, but it was too much of a coincidence to be anything else. She was more concerned with protecting her home from people that would try to take it.

They slipped through the cut wires easily enough, though a few of the dead got caught up in the loose wired. Their struggle began to shake the fence, making more noise than Alex had planned on. She nodded for Sally to go ahead and throw the timer and began unbuttoning her coat to get her rifle ready.

Sally and Alex moved carefully towards the edge of the herd as time made it's slow countdown to one. It went off, the herd perked up and began moving faster while Alex and Sally parted ways. They checked to make sure they hadn't attracted any of the dead before they removed their coats and pushed further into the camp.

They moved slowly in the direction of the front gate - the opposite direction of the herd. The plan was to move around to the opposite side of the property and attack from behind while their attention was focused on the herd. Alex slit the throat of the single lazy guard who had been watching the gate. His eyes flew open as her blade efficiently cut through his jugular vein, spilling his remaining life out onto his shirt.

The gate was closed but not locked, the chain and lock hanging limply on the post. Sally wrapped the chain tightly around the gate post before securing it with the lock. Alex grabbed the key ring off the guard, assuming one of them went to the lock, then threw them out into the tall weedy grass outside the fence.

The two moved on, keeping alert for both the living and the dead. They found a well-covered spot that allowed them to watch both the front gate and the main house and barn areas. Everything was situated neatly in a square, with Alex and Sally positioned on one side. Almost as soon as they were in place men began running out of the barn towards the dead heading their way. Shots began ringing out- the men didn't seem to be particularly accurate and they were wasting a lot of ammunition with little effect on the approaching herd.

Alex held her hand up to keep Sally from firing just yet. She wanted to get as many of them outside fighting before they started firing. She didn't want a large number of them hiding out somewhere inside. The two of them wouldn't be able to win that fight. Even Alex wasn't that stupid.

When there were more than a dozen men outside and it didn't look like anymore were coming, Alex signaled to open fire. They started by shooting men in the back of the group so they might go unseen when they dropped to the ground. They managed to kill seven men before the others noticed their sudden drop in fire power.

The remaining six men panicked and began looking around, dropping their guard against the dead. Two men were grabbed and bitten before the remaining four started shooting again. Alex and Sally made short work of them before killing the remaining dead as well.

They didn't come out of cover until it was still once again. Even then they chose to move indirectly towards the main house by way of the scrub oaks surrounding the developed clearing. They checked around the outside of the house, none of the men were alive, all of their shots had been clean.

After clearing the outside, Alex and Sally moved inside the house, carefully clearing each room. There was no one inside. They moved to the barn, which they discovered had six closed-door horse stalls. All were latched from the outside, but the padlocks weren't closed, they just hung on the latch. Most of the things you would normally see in a barn like hay, horse riding equipment and tools had been removed and the space had been filled with dirty mattresses and couches. Alex thought it was weird that so many people had been living in the barn like this when there was more than enough room in the house for all the people they'd seen so far.

When they moved to clear the first stall, Alex suddenly understood the need for all the mattresses - they weren't for sleeping. Inside the stall, chained to the floor, were three starved, naked and battered women. Alex thought one of them was dead, she hadn't flinched like the other two had when they opened the door. Both the other women tried to push themselves into the wall behind them, straining at their chains.

The first one didn't seem much older than Sally. Her naked body was covered in bruises, cuts and sores, all in varying stages of healing or infection. Much of this skin around one wound on her thigh was black. _Probably gangrenous_ , Sally thought. Her cheek had been cut pretty badly on one side and she was missing all of her front teeth.

The second girl was older than Alex, though not by much. She was also covered in bruises, cuts and sores, but most of hers were festering and horribly infected. She was covered in bite marks, some having bitten out chunks of skin. They were human bites, not festered in the same manner as the bite of a dead one, but they were infected just the same.

Sally was standing behind Alex and was peering around her to examine the girls. She couldn't help the rage that began bubbling up inside her as she looked at the horrible things one human had done to another. She aimed her rifle at the first girl and pulled the trigger, startling Alex. Sally shot the second girl when Alex didn't say anything. Alex took her knife out and stabbed the third girl in the temple.

Now prepared for what the other stalls would reveal and having silently decided on what needed to be done to any "survivors" they found in here, Sally started to clear the left side while Alex continued on the right. Sally's first stall revealed a similar scene as the first, but these women seemed to have been there longer… they were well _used_ for lack of a better term. Sally quickly ended their misery and moved to the next stall. She was happy to find it was empty. The third held one girl who had died at some point and turned. She took care of it and went to find Alex.

Alex was still in the second stall. Sally checked to make sure she was okay, confused when she saw that the room only contained a weird bench looking thing that was made of metal. Sally had no clue what the thing was for.

"What the hell is it," Sally asked Alex who was staring at the contraption.

"It's a breeding bench… they're used to breed farm animals.. I think they modified this one to hold women," Alex said with venom in her voice.

"Come on, let's get the last stall cleared so we can get the fuck outta here," Sally said, nudging Alex's side.

Alex turned stiffly and led the way to the last stall, which was, thankfully, empty.

"Looks like we were right that these guys were with the group that attacked us. I don't understand how people can be so awful to one another when our survival is constantly threatened by the dead," Sally said.

They returned outside and did another check around the house to make sure they hadn't missed anyone. Alex was very tempted to set fire to the whole damn place and burn it to the ground, but she was still rational enough to know that wasn't a good idea.

They made their way off the property, through the cut fence, killing and stragglers that had gotten stuck in the brush or the fence. They made quick work of the miles between them and the truck that they had commandeered. Upon arrival, however, the truck was nowhere to be seen.

"What the fuck," Alex said exasperatedly.

Sally looked around on the ground for tracks but only found a few in one spot near the truck that weren't theirs. She couldn't find where they came from though. She could only assume someone had escaped their attack. Sally raised her gun.

"They're long gone, Sal," Alex said. "Come on. We'll stay off the road just to be safe. We need to get back to the horses and get home. As it is, we're not gonna make it back until midnight, that's if there's enough light from the moon to travel by."

Two hours later they arrived at the barn where they'd left the horses. They carefully checked the perimeter before entering the barn. They hadn't seen any sign of the truck or the man that had taken it. Alex was saddling her horse, worrying about the missing man only slightly more than she worried about not being home on time. She wanted to know how Jake's run had gone.

Sally suddenly burst into the stall Alex was in with her fingers to her lips and her eyes wide. Alex instantly dropped the saddle on the ground and raised her rifle. Sally indicated one man armed with a gun around the front of the barn. Luckily, they'd closed and latched the door behind them when they entered.

They quickly climbed up the ladder to the hayloft, climbing as quietly as possible. The man was still out front, they could see him through the cracks in the slats of the barn door. Alex carefully peeked out the open hayloft door, trying to peek around the corner without drawing attention to herself. She could see the pickup off in the distance, parked on the side of the road. _Fucker must've followed us_ , Alex thought.

There wasn't a ladder on the outside of the barn to climb down, but there was a rope. Alex thought about climbing down to ambush the guy but it was too risky - he could come around the corner when she was halfway down the rope and she'd be done for.

"I have an idea," Sally whispered. "I'll climb down the rope while you keep watch from down there," she said, pointing to a spot near the first stall. "If he looks like he's going to head towards me, distract him, then I can come around and kill him."

Alex shook her head. "That might work if it's only one guy, but we don't know if he's got friends," Alex whispered.

Sally wasn't deterred. "It's okay. I only saw the one set of prints near the truck," she insisted. "I can do this, Alex." Sally grabbed the rope and tested her weight, "Go on," she whispered.

Alex reluctantly climbed down the ladder and got into position. Sally lowered herself down the rope. Alex could still see the man's outline outside the door. _I should just shoot him through the door right now and be done with it_ , she thought to herself before raising the rifle sight to her eye.

The man's outline shifted over a few slats, away from Sally's direction. Alex was about to shoot him when he was suddenly gone from her sight. She lowered the gun to see where he'd gone, he had moved to the door handle and was fiddling with the door. Alex took aim again, aiming for his heart through the wooden door and she squeezed the trigger. There was a crack of wood and she saw his figure slip to the ground.

Alex moved quickly to the door and opened it, pausing to knife the man in the eye. She went to the corner of the barn expecting to see Sally but when she turned the corner Sally was nowhere to be seen. Alex looked around searching for her, confused for a half second. _She should be right here_ , Alex thought over and over. Alex finally got her wits about her and began searching the ground where the rope dangled over the dirt. There were signs of struggle everywhere.

Alex began looking for the tracks that led away from the scene. Her head was pounding and her breaths were too short. Alex bent over and put her hands on her knees, forcing deep breaths in and out, trying to slow her heart rate. She'd be no use to Sally if she had a panic attack now.

Slowly her breathing returned to normal and Alex stood up slowly, taking in the area around her once again. She found the tracks that led away with a set of drag marks right next to them. It looked like she stopped struggling. _He must've knocked her out_ , Alex thought.

Alex took off after the tracks, the one thought running on repeat in her brain was that Sally had better be okay and there would be hell to pay for the person that took her.


	4. Chapter 4 Best Laid Plans

10

After making sure that everyone knew the plan, Jake, Billy and Leon began the task of splitting people into teams, and then each man took a team and went over the details of his team's duties. They'd ended up with a fighting force of forty - ten each in the flanking / lookout groups and twenty on the front line. The plan was to lure the attackers into the vineyard where the many fences would make it difficult for them to run any way other than the ways the Lazy H fighters wanted them to. They would be broken into groups of eight and spread out in a half moon shape, everyone with strict directions on firing and avoiding friendly fire. Once the enemies turned to retreat, the main force would back off and maintain the line while the flanking forces cleaned up. The hope was that the retreating forces wouldn't be more than a half dozen or so that would be easy to pick off.

By the time everyone knew their jobs and was properly armed it was early afternoon. After feeding everyone an early supper the troops were off so that everyone had enough time to get into place before they expected any forward scouts from the enemy. Billy went out with the group of spotters that would become a flanking unit; Ellie went with the other flanking group while Jake and Leon stayed with the main attackers. Once people settled into place, the only thing left to do was wait.

It was sometime just before sunset when the first attacker was seen. The lookouts quietly reported back that there were fifteen heavily armed men coming from the direction they'd assumed and heading in the direction they'd wanted. They lookouts were in no danger of being discovered, so everyone just got comfortable and settled in for the long haul. The attackers eventually settled in to a well concealed area about halfway between the two flanking groups.

When the scouts radioed in that there were only fifteen men in the attacking force, Leon became agitated and started pacing around, running his hands through his hair every so often. "What's a matter," Jake asked. "Our plan still works."

"Our plan still works as long as those other five aren't out there waiting to flank our flanks," Leon stated angrily. "Jake, why don't you take five people and try to get out and around them now, before the fighting starts."

Jake didn't like the sound of that. "Leon, man, think it through. We can't get out there undetected. Our guys have a better chance if they ain't expectin' nothin'. We go out there an' get seen tryin' ta move into position they'll know somethin' is up an' we lose the element of surprise. Billy an' Ellie will prep their people on how fifteen changes tha plan," Jake said.

Leon continued to pace but seemed to hear Jake and slowly his pacing came to a stop. "I hope you're right," Leon said.

One hour passed, then another before the sun was completely down and night had taken over. The scouts radioed in that they were seeing activity in the enemy camp, about half of the group was moving in the direction of the main force at the road. Final checks on weapons were made and people began taking aim through their night scopes. They had enough for one in five to have a night scope, so each group had at least two. Jake hoped it would be enough.

Leon began moving up and down the line making final checks on their troops. He was to take charge of the left and Jake the right. They'd made sure to tell everyone not to shoot until the signal - once they moved forward to a certain point Jake's group had a flare gun that they were going to fire directly at the enemy group, hoping to blind them since they were using night vision goggles. They hoped to gain a thirty to sixty second advantage in taking out the group while they couldn't see to fire back.

It all happened at once: the enemy group hit the spot, the flare was fired and muffled silenced shots could be heard up and down their main line, followed shortly by the screams of the dying and injured. The attackers in the main group never fired a single shot as the seven men were cut down before they even knew what was happening. Before the last body dropped, Jake heard the crackle of the walkie at his waist. He held it to his ear to try to catch the transmission. "... another… moving your way," was all he could make out.

Jake grabbed the gun of one of the men with a night scope and took a look around while telling the others to do the same. "Someone radio Leon and tell him there's more comin'," he growled as he continued to look around. "Someone keep an eye on our rear, keep an eye out for heat signatures," he called.

"Zach says Leon took off towards the fallen bodies as soon as the shooting stopped," Seth reported. "He wants to know what they should do."

Jake could kick something. Fucking Leon. "Tell Zach ta make sure those with night vision are keepin' an eye out all around them, we think they're gonna try a sneak attack," Jake said. He still didn't see anything out there that told him where they were coming from.

"Jake! Over there," someone called, "down the road to the right! They're coming!"

Jake spun to look that direction through the scope. Sure enough he made out the shapes of six men coming their way. "Tell tha other group ta keep an eye on their left flank," Jake told Seth. Jake took aim and started firing shot after shot, taking out three of the men while the rest of his group took out the other three. Jake could hear firing further down the line, hopefully at the other group. After a moment, the muffled sounds quieted and the walkie crackled. The other team reported success repelling the attack and no injuries or losses, other than Leon disappearing. Now it was up to the flanks to clean up the rest. By Jake's count they had five to eight men left to deal with.

"Seth," Jake called. Seth appeared at his side from the shadows. "Tell tha flanks that we've taken thirteen, they need ta worry 'bout tha other nine an' they need ta protect their backs," Jake barked. Seth immediately began trying to raise someone in the other two groups. Before they could get a response, gunshots broke through the night.

"That ain't us," Jake said, looking back through the scope in the direction the shots came from.

"Jake," Seth called excitedly, "I've got Ellie!"

Jake spun around and grabbed the walkie from Seth. "El, what's goin' on out there, over."

There was a moment of quiet before Ellie's voice crackled over the radio. "We just took down four over here. Those shots come from you guys, over," she asked.

"Not us. Must be Billy's group. Take yer group an' try ta get close enough ta help Billy, over," Jake said.

"Copy," Ellie said,

"Any luck on getting through ta Billy's group," Jake asked Seth. Seth shook his head. "Tell Zach ta bring tha rest of tha group back here, round everyone up. We need ta split up an' move, now!"

Jake quickly formed a plan, they would split the twenty in half - ten to remain to guard the line and ten to go with Jake to help Billy's group. By the time everyone converged on Jake, he had already selected the ten he wanted to take with him. He rattled off the names of those staying, giving Seth directions on what to do to hold the line. Jake gathered the group that would be going with him, filled them in quickly on what he wanted to do and they moved out.

It took ten minutes for them to stealthily make their way to Billy's location. In that time they heard three more unsilenced gunshots but nothing else. That had been five minutes into their walk. When they finally reached the location where Billy's group should have been, there was nothing. Maybe Jake had gotten the location wrong. He looked around, trying to see anything in the moonlight that would help him figure out where Billy's team was. His team looked through their night scopes, searching the area around them.

"Over here," Zach whispered to the team. They moved through some tall grass and found a body crumpled in the grass. The team moved into a circle, facing out, around Zach, Jake and the body and kept watch, sweeping the area with the night vision scopes. Before they could roll the body over, another member of the group called out. "There's another over here," James said.

They quickly turned over the first body, relieved to see that it was not a familiar face. They moved to the second body and rolled it over. It was Billy. He was covered in blood. Jake forced himself to get over the shock and looked the body over. He'd been shot three times, twice in the chest and once in the gut. He clearly had gone down fighting - in his hand he still clutched his knife and both it and his hands were covered in blood.

"Zach, go check tha other body's wounds, see if he's been stabbed," Jake ordered. "Tha rest of ya, keep yer fuckin' eyes glued ta those scopes. Someone call back ta Seth; see if anyone's reported back yet."

Zach returned and reported that the man was indeed stabbed. "Looks like Billy did a number on him before he went down. Man's tore up," Zach finished.

"I got Seth," Brett said holding the walkie out for Jake.

"What's tha word, Seth? Over," Jake said.

"Ellie just radioed in and said they shot killed three more men while trying to reach Billy. We still haven't heard from anyone in Billy's group. Over," Seth said.

"We found one that Billy killed, so that should take care of tha fifteen we saw an' six of tha other seven we expected. We got one unaccounted fer. Start callin' people back in. We're gonna take another look around; see if we can find tha rest of Billy's group. Everyone be careful, there may still be one out there. Over," Jake said.

"Will do. If we don't hear from you sooner, I'll let you know when everyone gets here. Out," Seth said.

"Come on. Let's see if we can find tha rest of tha group," Jake said. They spread out in a line and began walking towards the area Billy's group had waited for the enemies to arrive.

After fifteen minutes and nothing to show for it, Jake turned his group back towards Billy's body. He was pissed that they'd lost Billy, pissed that the rest of his team was unaccounted for and pissed that they had no idea whether or not this had been worth it. And where the fuck was Leon? When they reached Billy, he was beginning to show signs of reanimation, his fingers were flexing and his eyes had just reopened. Jake shone his flashlight on Billy's face. His eyes were cloudy and he started snapping his jaws at Jake. Jake quickly put his knife through Billy's temple and closed his eyes.

Zach made to help Jake lift the body, but Jake waved him off, so Zach stepped back and let the man do it himself. Jake got Billy up and over his shoulder in a fireman's carry and the somber group set a steady pace towards home.

"Jake, you copy," Ellie's voice broke through the walkie when they had almost reached the road.

"Zach here. Jake's got his hands full at the moment so I'm holdin' the radio for him. Over," Zach said.

"We've got most of Billy's group here. We're just missing Billy and Amy. Over," Ellie said.

"We've got Billy, he didn't make it. Didn't see any sign of Amy when we took a look around. We're about five minutes out; we can make a plan then. Out," Jake said when Zach held the walkie to his face with the button depressed.

When they reached the rest of the group, Ellie burst into tears when she saw Jake carrying Billy. They'd been pretty secretive about it, but Jake knew that the two of them had been close, spending more nights together than apart over the winter. He laid Billy's body down as gently as possible and Ellie threw herself over it on the ground. She lay there sobbing. Jake put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it, not really knowing what to say. After a moment, he stepped away from her to meet with the rest of the group.

"Who was the last person to see Amy," Jake asked the group at large.

"I was," Sarah said quietly. "We were waiting for the attack; Amy was next to me the whole time. We saw them coming through the scopes and we radioed it in… then we waited. When they started to move, we called it in again and then everything was happening all at once. We saw the flare go off and heard the attack happening, and then suddenly there were men behind us shouting at us to put our weapons down… I don't know what happened. Someone started shooting and the next thing I knew there were bodies on the ground… when I looked up Amy was gone and Billy was fighting with a man, trying to stab him. I don't know how they got so close… Billy saw me and told me to run and call for back up. I don't know how I ended up with the walkie but it was already in my hand. I tried to call, let you know more were coming. Someone grabbed me from behind, there was a shot and I was released. I couldn't see who shot the man so I kept moving and eventually ran into Ellie's group. I should have tried to find her or helped Billy," she finished with a sob.

Several members of the group moved to support and comfort Sarah, which Jake was glad for since he had no idea how to comfort a hysterical woman. "Anyone else see anythin'," Jake asked the group.

"I don't know if it was Sarah, but did see two figures in the night scope, a big one and a smaller one, probably a man and a woman… it was right after everything went down, I was looking for someone to shoot, I figured they were ours since they didn't have any women with them and it didn't look like she was being forced to move. But I don't know if it was her. They were headed that way," James said pointing to the southeast.

"I'll head out once it's light enough an' see if I can pick up a trail," Jake said when no one else offered any further details. Jake looked around and realized that Leon was nowhere to be seen.

"Anyone seen Leon," he asked.

"I haven't seen him since he took off after the first assault," Zach said.

Everyone else shook their heads no.

"Alright, so we've lost one for sure and have two MIA… great," Jake said.

Ellie had called for trucks to come pick them up after her walkie conversation with Jake and they could hear the trucks rumbling down the gravel road. Everyone began collecting their gear and readying for transport. When they got in the trucks it was three a.m. Jake knew there wasn't going to be any sleep for him. Dawn would start to break in the next hour and a half and he wanted to be out looking for clues as soon as there was enough light to see.

He sat in the back of a truck with Ellie and Billy's body. They didn't have anything to wrap him up in and his body was in bad shape. He must have been shot point blank - the two shots to the chest basically exploded his chest cavity, the gaping wounds clear in the moonlight. Ellie sat cradling Billy's head in her lap; Jake sat next to her smoking.

"I always had a thing for him, ya know," Ellie whispered. "Never had the guts to say anything to him… and then I ended up here and things just fell into place… I can't believe he's gone," she got out before she started sobbing again. Jake put his arm around her shoulders and offered her his handkerchief. Ellie took it and offered him a small smile.

After a moment she gathered herself and took a deep breath. "I guess I should be thankful that I got to have something beautiful in this ugly world, even if it was just for a little while. Funny how it took the end of the world for me to realize what beauty really is," Ellie said sadly.

Jake exhaled a large cloud of smoke and chewed on his lip while he thought about what Ellie said. "Mmmhmm," he hummed in agreement. "I know whatcha mean… end of tha world changes yer perspective on thangs," he said.

"Make sure you don't take Alex for granted, you never know when the last time is…," Ellie choked out.

"Ya don't gotta tell me, I almost lost 'er 'nough times ta know how precious tha time we got is," Jake drawled.

They spent the remainder of the drive in silence. When they arrived at the ranch practically everyone was waiting outside the barn for them. Tim had tears freely dripping down his face as did several other members of the group. Billy was well liked and respected. Losing him was a big blow to the group. Tim helped Jake carry Billy's body to a sheet that had been placed on the ground to wrap his body in before they buried him. Once Billy was secured, Jake retreated from the small group that had gathered to allow them their time to grieve. Jake saw Kathy and Doc on the outer edge of the group near the barn and made his way towards them.

"Anyone seen Al, she's supposed ta be back by now," Jake asked.

They both shook their heads. "No, haven't seen her or Sally since they took off yesterday afternoon," Doc said.

Jake ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "Damn it," he muttered to himself. He pulled out another cigarette and lit it before he started pacing back and forth.

"You shouldn't worry so much. She's a tough girl. Probably just got carried away with training and they'll be along any time now," Doc said kindly.

"Nah, somethin's wrong. She's never shown up late, not since Aaron…" Jake's voice trailed off. "I can't even go look for her, not until I check out the fight scene and see if I can figure out what happened to Amy and make sure there ain't anyone out there we missed. GOD FUCKING DAMN IT," he yelled as he threw a punch at the barn wall. His fist was no match for the plywood, however, and all he succeeded in doing was bruising his knuckles. The pain made him feel better for a minute, until his knuckles started throbbing.

"Now, don't go being stupid," Doc said. "You're no good to anyone if you get hurt. You should take a minute and go get something to eat. If you want to lie down for a while I'll come get you at first light," Doc offered.

Jake shook his head. "Nah, no way I can sleep. I'll jus' grab somethin' ta eat an' head back out… no use sittin' 'round here waitin' fer tha light. Might as well be in place when tha light hits. I'm takin' a walkie with me, will ya let me know if she comes back while I'm out," he asked Doc.

"Of course," Doc said. "Don't you worry about her; she'll be back before you know it."

Jake went back to Tim and Ellie, placing a hand on each of their shoulders. "I'm gonna head back out, start lookin' fer Amy at first light. I got a walkie. I'm gonna take Zach an' Brett with me," he finished.

"Thanks, Jake," Tim said. "Be careful out there, we can't lose anyone else."

Jake nodded to them and went to find Zach. The kid was stuffing his face in the bunkhouse like he hadn't eaten in years.

"Hey, Jabba, wanna be my backup? Gonna go look fer Amy," Jake said.

Zach wiped his face with the back of his hand, gulped down the mass of food in his mouth and grinned at Jake. "Sorry man, I didn't realize how hungry I was until I put something in my face," he explained. "Then I just couldn't stop. Sure, I'll come with ya. I can be ready in five."

"Meet me in front of tha barn, I'm gonna go look fer Brett," Jake said.

He found Brett who quickly agreed to join them. Jake gathered a few things and then met the boys at the front of the barn. They jumped in Jake's truck and set off.

They parked at the end of the road and went the rest of the way on foot. By the time they reached the place where they found Billy the first grey light of dawn was beginning to ease across the night sky. They waited silently, each looking around for clues and trying not to disturb the area any more than they already had. It always amazed Jake how quickly the world changed from dark to light - it wasn't long before there was enough light for him to see by and they began their search in earnest.

Jake quickly found the trail that belonged to Billy. He backtracked a bit and found the point of contact, where Billy had been ambushed by the attackers. There were bodies littered around the area. Jake looked at the bodies, trying to figure out how they'd managed to escape detection with the night scopes, but didn't notice anything unusual. They moved through the area, heading southeast in the direction James said he saw people heading.

Jake eventually found a trail that seemed to match James' description - heavy steps and large feet followed by smaller feet and lighter steps heading away from the action. Jake whistled to the boys and they fell in behind him before following the tracks. After thirty minutes of walking Jake paused to reevaluate the trail at the creek where he and Tim had killed the hunting party. The prints had remained consistent - the pace was never increased or decreased, neither party seemed to be under duress, not dragging feet or trying to avoid continuing on. Jake was sure that if this was Amy she was willingly following whoever the other tracks belonged to. He had more questions now than ever. The tracks were clearly heading back to the enemy compound and Jake hoped that didn't mean something sinister was afoot.

They eventually reached the place where Jake and Tim had followed the road on their fateful scouting trip. As they were about to step out onto the road, Jake heard the unmistakable rumbling of a tractor trailer coming down the road.

"Get down, stay back," Jake called to Zach and Brett. All three of the men crouched low in the bushes, waiting. The sounds of the truck got closer and closer. Soon they could see the thing slowly making its way down the road. It was one of the tankers they wanted to take from the oil company! Jake couldn't believe it. Someone had beaten them to it, after they'd done all the hard work and even lost people. He was pissed. He'd be damned if he was going to let some opportunistic asshole steal what they'd worked so hard for. Jake stood up from the bushes and stepped out into the road, gun raised and aimed at the driver. As the truck approached, the driver applied the brakes, bringing the rig to a stop. Jake now noticed a pickup truck behind the big rig, also slowing to a stop. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

"What the hell are you doin' in the middle of the road," Leon called as he leaned out the driver's window.

"What tha fuck, man?" Jake called, relief spreading across his face. "We thought you went AWOL."

"Nah man. I just couldn't take it. I thought I could Rambo it; take 'em all out myself, rescue the hostages and the fuel, hopefully cut down on the casualties. Couldn't stand the thought of losing any more men," Leon said. "Amy's got the hostages in the truck behind me."

"Fuck, she was with ya tha whole time," Jake asked.

"Yeah, came across her as I was makin' a break for it to try to get behind the enemy line. They'd ambushed the group and no one knew what to do, Billy was nowhere to be seen. I grabbed her and told her to come with me, she didn't argue. We cleaned out the few men left at the camp then we liberated the fuel tankers. There's two more, full and ready to go. We just need to get back there and get them ASAP," Leon said.

"Shit. Let's get back ta tha ranch an' we'll get a team back out there right away. We'll ride with Amy," Jake said.

Leon pulled out, Jake, Zach and Brett climbed in the back of the truck with the newly freed women and children and made their introductions. The overall mood of the newcomers was one of relief. They didn't seem scared, just genuinely happy to be alive and free. Jake did his best to fill them in on what happened to the men that had held them captive and what they could expect at the ranch.

Jake suddenly realized that Leon had said the prisoner said there were eleven captives, there were only nine of them in the truck. "We were under tha impression that there were eleven hostages. What happened ta tha other two," he asked.

"We lost one of the little girls and her older sister," a young woman replied. "They tried to escape just before the mean man left last night… he made us watch…"

Jake held his hand up to stop her. "'S okay. Don't gotta tell me anymore. What's yer name," Jake asked her.

"I'm Becky," the young woman said. "This is my little sister Ava. We were here visiting our cousins when everything happened… lost my cousins and aunt… our uncle was the one that got us to this group, thought they'd help us… ended up killing him in front of us after making him watch… what they did…" the girl's voice wavered and dropped off, leaving the sentence unfinished. Jake didn't need her to finish it. He knew what happened.

"Well, we ain't like that. We got plenty of room and lots of friendly people. Lots of work, we expect everyone to pitch in. But it's as safe as anything we've found so far and we haven't lost anyone to a dead one since before the winter," Jake said.

The ride home was much quicker than the walk out and within the hour they were back at Jake's truck and then driving back to the barn. They were greeted by a large, dreary crowd, the women getting the newcomers settled and fed while Leon and several others figured out what to do with the fuel truck. Tim and Ellie were still absorbed in their grief, Billy's body still sat where Jake had left it. He needed to do something; they needed to get it together before their grief started to spill over to the rest of the population.

"Zach, do me a favor, go find Doc, James an' John. Tell 'em I need 'em here pronto. Brett, can ya back my truck up over there? Near tha body? Then grab two shovels and a couple pickaxes an' put 'em in tha back," Jake asked. Zach nodded and took off at a trot while Brett jumped into the truck and moved it where Jake wanted. Jake went to Tim and Ellie.

"We gotta move 'im," Jake said quietly. "We're gonna dig a grave fer 'im down by Sally's little brother. You two need ta get some rest. Let me take care of this fer ya," Jake said.

Brett dropped the tools in the back of the truck and helped Jake pick Billy up and place him in the bed of the truck. Just then Zach arrived with Doc and John. "James is out on perimeter watch," Zach said.

"What's going on, Jake? What do you need us to do," Doc asked.

"Tim an' Ellie need rest. With Billy gone we need someone ta step up an' make sure shit keeps gettin' done 'round here. Doc, you got a pretty good idea of how Billy an' Tim were doin' thangs, right," Jake asked.

"A pretty good idea, yes," Doc replied.

"Ya think you an' John can keep thangs afloat 'fer a couple a days, jus' 'til we can get thangs figured out? I don't know where tha fuck Alex is an' we need ta get out there an' gather all tha bodies from tha fight. I'm not even sure if we killed 'em all," Jake said.

"Whatever we can do to help we will," Doc said, John nodding in agreement.

It wasn't even eight in the morning yet, but Jake knew they needed to get a move on. The ranch was in chaos; without their leaders the people were scared and confused. Jake needed to get things under control now before everything they worked so hard for was lost for good.

"Zach, ya know where Billy keeps his book," Jake asked. Zach nodded yes. "Can ya grab it an' give it ta Doc?"

"Sure thing, man," Zach said before trotting off.

"Between tha records that Kathy is keepin' an' Billy's notebook ya should have everythin' ya need ta keep us goin' a few days. Don't think we need ta worry 'bout anythin' other than the basics - gatherin' food an' watchin' tha perimeter. I'll take a small team out ta collect tha bodies an' dump 'em, once I figure out whether we missed anyone we can make a plan. If we got 'em all, we don't gotta worry 'bout another attack - from them at least - an' I can go out lookin' fer Alex an' Sally. If it looks like someone got away we'll have ta deal with them before I can go lookin' fer them," Jake explained.

"We got things here handled," Doc said. "We'll get the teams out in the garden and the orchards and the perimeter team should be coming in to change shifts soon anyway. We'll get them where they need to be."

"Thanks, Doc," Jake said. "Hey, Leon," he called out to the man across the way. Leon came running over.

"What's up," he asked.

"How many men did you take out, before you got to the enemy camp," Jake asked.

"Just killed the one that had grabbed Amy, took her with me and we took out the six at the enemy camp," Leon replied. "Why?"

"Jus' tryin' ta get our count right… we only accounted fer twenty one of tha twenty two we expected. Now it all adds up," Jake said. "Thanks."

Jake gathered ten people to go out and collect the bodies. They worked quickly and by the time they were finished they had accounted for and collected all twenty two bodies. They drove the bodies to the designated dump area, tossed the bodies in a waiting pit and pushed a few feet of dirt in to cover them.

Back at the ranch Jake was pleased to see that Doc and John had things running smoothly; teams had moved out shortly after Jake's team left and were now working hard in the garden and down in the orchard. Kathy, Shelly and Maggie were all helping get the new women and children settled in, showing them around and helping them set up a trailer of their own.

"Looks like we accounted fer all of 'em," he drawled as he walked up to Doc and John. "Looks like ya got thangs goin', any problems," he asked them.

"Not a one," Doc replied. "Everyone has been great, volunteering to fill in as needed. Billy's loss is going to be felt for a long time, no doubt about it. Tim and Ellie declined any help in digging his grave. They've been down there since you left."

"We need ta get out there an' get tha rest of tha tankers," Jake said. "I can't worry 'bout them right now. Will ya keep an eye on 'em fer me while I finish this up," Jake asked Doc.

"You bet. I'm gonna take them some water and food myself in a little bit," Doc said.

"I'm gonna need ya ta come with me, James," Jake said looking at the man. "Yer one of tha only people we got that can drive a semi an' we got two ta bring back. Guess I'm drivin' tha other one. I'll meet ya back here in a few. Gonna get tha rest of tha team together. Still nothing from Alex," he asked Doc hopefully.

Doc shook his head. "Sorry son."

Jake kicked the dirt at that but recovered quickly and gathered the rest of his team. Zach, Seth, Amy and Max piled into the back of Jake's truck, Jake driving and John riding shotgun.

It took them three hours to get the tankers back to the Lazy H. They'd had to clear out a half dozen dead ones that had been wandering near the entrance before they could enter the compound, but other than that they'd had no issues, human or dead. Both of the tankers were full but needed to be hooked up to tractors and they'd had a hell of a time getting them to line up right. The logistics of getting the tankers hitched and moved was difficult, but they finally got both trailers hooked up and back to the ranch.

Jake stood away from the chaos of the barn below him as he watched everyone work together to get the semi's into place. He looked at his watch for the millionth time in the last ten minutes - Alex was eighteen hours late. Something was definitely wrong. Their group hadn't spent much time to the west other than to clear the closest properties. Jake worried that Alex and Sally had run into some other survivors. It was a bit after noon, if Jake left now he could reach the general area his girls were headed.

Jake sighed and began walking to the barn. There was no way he could leave this place right now. The group's morale had hit a serious low and they had to make sure the leaders that were left were visible and clearly in charge making the right decisions. As much as he needed to go find Alex, he couldn't just walk away from his duty to these people. He decided to wait until the morning to go after her and spend the rest of the afternoon trying to help Tim and Ellie so they could get back on track. He just hoped they would be able to move on.


	5. Chapter 5 Rescue Me

**Note: This chapter graphically depicts torture and violence.**

* * *

The first thought that popped into Sally's conscious mind was the throbbing pain in her head, quickly followed by questions: where am I, why does my head hurt, what happened to me and where's Alex. Sally tried opening her eyes but everything was dark. She flexed her forearms, quickly realizing her arms were tied together behind her back. Her feet were tied as well and there was a gag in her mouth.

Slowly things began to come back to her: the attack, the barn, climbing down the rope. She remembered getting to the bottom of the rope and someone grabbing her, trying to fight them off and then everything after that was black. She pieced together that her plan had failed. The man must have done something to Alex and then taken her. Or maybe there were two men after all… Sally had no idea. She didn't feel inside like Alex was dead though. Sally expected to feel that link break, they were so close. But it was as strong as ever, her connection to Alex. No, Alex was fine and she was coming to find her. Alex wouldn't rest until she found Sally and killed everyone that got in her way. Sally was certain of that.

Having eased her mind, realizing her rescue was imminent; Sally relaxed slightly and began trying to figure out anything she could about her surroundings. No sight, limited touch, no taste, but she could still hear and smell just fine. Sally inhaled slowly, not wanting to appear awake if her captor was watching. She tried to identify what she was smelling: something was musty, like an old house; smoke from a fire - it was burning pine wood, she could tell that. She could smell food cooking, maybe canned beans or chili, and there was a musky smell, like the den of a hibernating bear, Sally couldn't quite put her finger on it. She thought it might be the smell of her captor; it smelled slightly like some of the men at the Lazy H after a long day's work. _If it is him, he must be sitting pretty close_ , Sally thought.

At the thought, Sally couldn't help but tense up. She listened intently; she heard the crackle of the fire, the intermittent bubbling of something on the fire… _I must be close to the fire_ , she thought. She tried to feel the direction the heat was radiating from. Her back felt slightly warmer than her front, _it must be a small fire_ , she thought.

Sally returned to identifying sounds. She could hear the faint singing of birds, but they were muffled. _We're inside a building, probably a house since a barn would smell earthier_ , she told herself. Sally flexed her fingers to feel the floor she was laying on. It was carpet of some sort, with short, tight fibers.

More sounds filled Sally's ears; a slight snore had just begun, coming from behind her. Sally couldn't feel his body heat though. _He's sleeping, better move while I have the chance_ , she thought. She began testing her bonds, wriggling her wrists to see if she could get a hand free. She could not. The knots were tied well, not too tight, but they were secure and she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Sally moved her feet, same thing. She could feel her knives in her boots, one in each, so that was good. If she could get her hands free she could easily kill him. She decided her best bet would be to play nice, go along with whatever he wanted until she could kill him.

The snoring stopped suddenly and Sally froze in place. She heard rustling of clothes and suddenly she felt a large, warm hand on her hip. She involuntarily flinched, causing the man to squeeze her hip.

"Welcome back, darlin'," a deep male voice said from close behind her. "I know you're awake. Let's take this off so you can see."

Sally felt him pull the bandana off and she blinked her eyes trying to adjust to the light in the room. She looked to the windows to see if she could tell what time it was but they were boarded up. It was only the soft glow of a single lantern that lit the room.

"Don't worry about what's going on out there," he said in a too calm voice. "Your friend won't find us here, that is, if my friend hasn't already had his way with her," he said with a leer.

Sally knew the man was full of shit, but she wanted him to think she was weak, so she allowed tears to slip from her eyes. The man had stood when he removed the blindfold and he now studied her face as she laid there. His voice might have been soothing, but the look in his eyes was anything but. It made Sally's insides crawl. This was a bad man and going along with whatever he wanted was going to be harder than she thought. What he wanted was for her to be scared. She could see it in his eyes.

At this thought, Sally began to tremble and the grin on the man's face grew wider. He knelt down next to her and rubbed Sally's thigh again with his massive hand.

"No need to be scared, girl. We're gonna have a good time. You might even like some of it," he said as his lips curved into a cruel smile.

§

Alex stared at the map, willing it to show her Sally's location. She'd been staring at it for the last hour since she reached the location of the truck and essentially lost Sally's trail. She was only certain of the direction the truck had gone - tire tracks peeled out, heading away from the camp they'd attacked and further away from home.

She looked at the section of map in the direction the truck had gone. There weren't so many places marked off in this direction. For some reason, Alex's eye kept getting drawn to one particular section of the map. There were three 'x's' bunched in one area and then nothing for miles around it. The map scale said it was about six miles away. On foot it would take her about an hour and a half at a fast trot. She wanted to take the horse, but she was less conspicuous on foot. She sighed and began trotting down the road.

The sun was getting low in the sky by the time Alex neared her destination. She'd had to stop and wait for twenty minutes when she thought she saw movement in the distance. It turned out to be a lone dead one, which she took out when she finally realized it wasn't human.

Another fifteen minutes was lost when she thought she heard an engine of some sort in the distance, but she never saw anything in the scope and didn't hear the noise again. She was disconcerted by this turn of events but pressed on after Sally anyway.

There was a little group of six houses that were all arranged in a little square and surrounded by fields. Alex guessed it had once been a grower's cooperative. On her map, it looked like only three of the houses were crossed off. Alex thought this was strange, which convinced her further that Sally was in the area.

She decided to watch the houses for a while and see if there was any activity. Fifteen minutes... thirty minutes... an hour. After an hour of nothing she decided to move in for a closer look.

All of the houses were identically designed; they were all the same color and everything. It kinda weirded Alex out, like the Stepford Wives or an old Twilight Zone episode. She moved quickly, thankful for the shadows of the evening for giving her a place to hide. Once near the houses, she waited again, listening. Still nothing. She thought she smelled a whiff of smoke when the wind shifted, but it was gone just as quickly as it came and she couldn't even be sure if she'd actually smelled it to begin with.

She waited until dark to start checking out the houses, keeping her eyes peeled for any sign of light peeking through a curtain or door crack. The back door of the first house was unlocked and Alex walked right in, after standing and listening at the door for a few minutes and not hearing anything at all.

Alex cleared each room, not finding anything living or dead. She made sure to check all of the closets in the house as well, remembering what had happened to Molly, her very first human kill and introduction to life in the apocalypse.

She moved to the second house, following the same routine. This house was empty, as was the third. Alex was starting to lose confidence that this was in fact the place she'd find Sally. She hadn't smelled any more smoke in the hour and a half it'd taken her to clear all three houses. The signs were looking bleak.

House number four at least offered her something to do. She killed six dead ones in that house, both adults and children and eight in the fifth house. That had been a close call. She'd sunk her blade into the eye of a particularly large dead man, but he didn't fall. The knife was now stuck in the socket and Alex couldn't get the leverage to pull it out while the thing was actively trying to eat her.

While struggling with Big Hoss, another dead one had come up behind Alex and she realized it with only seconds to spare. She abandoned the big one she'd been holding back, ducked behind him and kicked him at the newcomer, which knocked over an end table, sending knickknacks and the lamp to the floor. "Too much fucking noise," she cursed under her breath. She used her throwing knives to finally put the dead to rest. Alex retrieved her knives and finished clearing the house.

She now waited not-so-patiently, hidden in the shadows of the final house. When she'd first snuck up near a back window Alex thought she heard the creak of a floorboard, but it didn't happen again and there was no other noise. The windows seemed to be boarded up from the inside, which she found odd, simply because none of the other houses had been fortified in any way. She was in full hunter mode; all her senses were on highest alert for the slightest hint of her prey.

Alex figured it was about ten and her quarry was likely getting ready to settle in for the night. She moved silently around the outside of the house, pausing near each window to listen for any sign of activity inside. After almost finishing her circuit around the house, while paused at the last window she heard a man screaming in rage followed shortly by a girl's scream. Sally. Alex hurried to find a way inside.

§

The man moved Sally to a sitting position on the sofa in the room, retying her hands securely in front of her. He added a short length of rope and connected her hands to her feet. She wouldn't be able to stand fully, the rope was so short. He pulled a chair from the adjoined dining room and set it right in front of her so their knees touched. Sally had nowhere to go.

Now that she could see the room better, Sally noted that they were in the small living room of a house. All the windows were boarded up from the inside with the curtains draping over the boards. The furniture had been mostly removed, except for the single couch, an end table and the table and chairs in the attached dining room. There was a lantern on the end table and some supplies and bags on the floor.

Sally turned her attention to the man. He was huge, at least 6'2" and 225 pounds. His hair was long, dark and greasy and pulled back into a ponytail. Sally could see tattoos creeping up his neck from under his t-shirt and they also ran down the full length of his arms. All of his limbs were like tree trunks. And his hands were easily larger than Sally's face. But all of those things weren't what scared her. It was the glint in his eyes every time he looked at her, like she was his Christmas present and he couldn't wait to open her up, literally. It made her unable to control her fear the longer he stared at her and she eventually would crack, showing her fear through tears, shaking and just plain terror in her eyes. Then the right side of the man's mouth would twitch up slightly, clearly pleased with her reaction. Each time this happened Sally cursed her weakness internally and determining to be stronger, but every time he just wore her down.

At first he didn't do anything. Just their knees touched while he stared into her eyes with that look. Sally's pride kept her from looking away until he would finally just lean into her space slowly, until his face was just inches from hers and she could feel his putrid breath on her. Then she couldn't help it, she broke eye contact, only shifting her eyes as far as his chin, but it was defeat nonetheless.

This happened many times, he did it over and over, in just the same way. This time, however, when she looked down and saw his lip twitch, he didn't pull back. Instead, he leaned in even closer, until his nose was in Sally's hair, just below her ear. She cringed as she felt his breath against her skin. His tongue replaced his breath as he began licking her neck softly. Sally felt physically ill and she began squirming in her seat, trying to get away from the unwanted onslaught.

The next thing she knew, she was face down on the carpet and she was seeing stars. Her head was pounding again and she was having trouble catching her breath. It took her eyes a moment to focus when she opened them. She saw a blur of movement before pain racked through her entire body, starting with her chest. Sally fought for air, unable to focus on anything but taking in another breath. Then she was roughly picked up and tossed back on the couch.

The room was spinning and every breath was like a thousand knives stabbing her entire chest. She tried to focus on a spot of light - she assumed it was the lantern - and take tiny breaths, just something to get oxygen into her system. Her brain was too fuzzy. She couldn't remember why she was getting beaten; she just wanted the pain to stop.

The man pulled her into a sitting position, once again knee to knee with him. Sally was having a hard time keeping upright. She began sagging to the left, only to have him backhand her across her left cheek, sending her flying to the right side of the couch. Sally was once again fighting for breath as she was yanked back to a sitting position. This time she focused everything she could muster on remaining upright.

"You and me will get along just fine as long as you learn how to behave. You just got a little taste of my kind of punishment, sweetheart. I promise that's me being easy on you since we're just getting to know each other. You don't wanna see me get rough, little bitty thing that you are," he said with an increasing smile. "Now, let's get properly acquainted, shall we," he asked with a serious face. Sally did her best to nod her head.

"That's a good girl," he said, rubbing Sally's thigh. "My name is Buck. What's yours," he asked, leaning forward to remove the gag from her mouth.

Sally worked her jaw a few times before croaking out, "Sydney. My name's Sydney." She didn't know why her brain automatically spit out the name of her childhood best friend.

"Sydney… I like it," Buck said with a smile. "Nice to meet you, Sydney," he said, extending his hand to shake hers. "Silly me," he laughed when he realized her hands were still tied. He retracted his hand. "I think you're just gonna have to stay tied up for now."

He leaned forward into Sally's neck and inhaled deeply, bringing Sally's urge to vomit right back. She forced herself to stay still. This time, Buck rested his hands on Sally's thighs, gently squeezing them. He sat across from her and watched her face as he slowly increased the pressure he was putting on her until he was finally gripping her hard, to the point of pain. Sally cried out, earning her another backhand. Her left eye was already beginning to swell from the first strike, now her other eye would soon be following suit. He jerked her back up and faced her again.

Buck drew his hunting knife from its sheath and laid it on his thigh while he put his hands back on Sally's thighs. This time, the harder he squeezed the harder she bit her lip, forcing herself not to cry out. When he finally released her, tears were silently pouring down her face and she'd drawn blood from her lip. Buck smiled when he saw the blood. He took his giant thumb and swiped it roughly across the bite, but Sally remained still. He maintained eye contact with her as he stuck his thumb in his mouth, savoring the taste. Sally's skin was crawling.

"So that's what you really taste like," Buck said in a dangerously quiet voice.

He picked up his knife and began running the blade lightly over Sally's jean covered thighs. He pinched the material, jabbed the knife through and ran it down the length of her leg, then repeated the action on the other leg. Sally began shaking uncontrollably. She thought for sure Buck was going to beat her again for moving, but instead he brought the knife back up to the tops of Sally's thighs and continued to cut the fabric away until Sally was left only in her underwear. Then he proceeded to cut off her t-shirt.

Tears dripped steadily down her cheeks, but Sally stayed still through all of it. When she got free she wouldn't be able to stab him with her knife if she couldn't lift her arms because of her ribs, so she willed herself to stay present and focused on as many details as she could. He seemed to like her tears so she continued to let those flow freely, though she probably couldn't have stopped them if she tried. She continued to observe him without looking like she was doing so.

Sally noticed that he was right handed and that his right neck muscle bulged slightly just before he moved in to touch her. His hands had many scars, and from the way he held his knife she was sure he was very skilled with it. She herself had accumulated a number of scars on her hands since she'd started learning about knives.

Buck held the edge of his knife to Sally's thigh and steadily applied pressure as he dragged it down towards her knee about six inches. Blood quickly began to ooze out of it. Sally couldn't keep her body from shaking. She tried to control her muscles, focusing every thought she had on keeping still and not giving in, but in the end she was betrayed by her twelve year old body.

He removed the knife, holding it with one hand while wiping the blood off her thigh with his thumb. He watched Sally as he stuck it in his mouth; she continued shaking and shedding silent tears. She'd never been this scared before, not when she was alone with her brother and the monsters, before she learned to fight and not any time since. She knew this man was going to kill her. He looked at her like a meal, to be consumed and thrown away once you were full. She'd never felt disposable before… didn't even know it was a feeling until that moment.

Buck was focused on lapping up the blood on her thigh, one thumb swipe at a time, so Sally tried to force herself to think of something useful. She had no idea what time it was or how long she'd been here with Buck. Sally knew that Alex was looking for her, but Sally didn't think that Alex would find her. Buck could have driven anywhere, she had been knocked out and had no clue how long they'd travelled. And how was Alex going to follow a truck that didn't leave tracks on pavement? No, Sally was on her own and she was going to have to rescue herself. "Self-rescuing princess" is what Alex called it - girls who didn't need rescuing, they took care of themselves. That's what Alex had trained her to be.

Sally took a breath - it hurt her ribs to even think about breathing - and tried to center herself, focus her senses. She needed to pay attention; the moment or opening she could turn against Buck and use to her advantage could come at any second and she needed to be ready. Sally needed to figure out a way to get him to untie her hands. She'd already tried obedience and hadn't been too successful. She was going to have to try harder.

Buck took another swipe at the blood and spread it across Sally's quivering lips, catching her off guard. She'd been too caught up in her head and she was having some trouble switching gears mentally. He suddenly leaned in began kissing her roughly before biting down on her lower lip. Sally let a whimper escape her mouth and Buck clamped down even harder. She tried to block the pain out, keeping as calm and quiet as possible. She could feel the flesh tearing as his teeth dug in.

Her lip was suddenly free and Buck was backing away, as Sally's conscious thought process came back to her. The pain in her lip had exploded almost immediately after she felt the relief of him letting it go. She could taste blood and there was something dripping down her chin, also probably blood. Sally was barely holding on to consciousness. Everything hurt so badly and nothing was making sense… he was calling for Sydney, but Sydney was dead… how did he know Sydney? Thoughts swirled in Sally's head as she fought to remain upright, but with Buck no longer forcing her knees back against the couch, Sally slumped forward and was unconscious before she hit the floor.

§

Sally felt something poking at her mouth and she startled awake, unable to remember anything for a moment. Her eyes flew open and searched for something, anything to tell her where she was. And then she saw _his_ face and everything came back to her instantly, and it was like getting hit with the full force of an anvil dropped off a roof. Buck's mouth curved up into a sinister smile.

"Glad you decided to wake up, I was just about to get started without you, Sydney" he almost purred at her.

Sally started to respond but found her lip hurt too much to bother. She remembered giving him her friend's name and she didn't want to ask him what he was going to start without her. She remembered where she was and who she was with. This was a game, and she was losing badly. She needed to figure out how to turn the tide.

Buck returned to what he'd been doing when Sally had woken up, treating her lip with rubbing alcohol and a gauze pad he'd gotten from somewhere. It burned horribly. Sally didn't want him treating the wound he'd given her intentionally. She decided to take a risk and try talking.

"I c-c-can t-t-try to d-do it s-s-so you d-don't have t-t-t-to," she managed to get out, hoping she didn't sound bossy. She tried to make her spirit look broken, which in that moment wasn't hard to do. She tried not to flinch when he applied more alcohol to another spot.

"I'm real sorry about your lip; I didn't mean to get so carried away… I forget sometimes that the young ones… well, they have to be eased into things. They break real easy if you work them too hard too fast," he said with that glint in his eyes. "Don't you worry about a thing; I'll make sure it gets cleaned up."

Sally sat there while he worked. Every dab of alcohol was a nightmare; after what seemed like forever, she finally couldn't really feel it anymore. She just sat there and stared. He finished his torturous care of her lip and helped her sit up on the couch; Sally let him do all the work. When he had her upright once again, relenting and leaving her to lean against one side of the couch, he untied the rope that connected her hands and feet together. Now at least she would be able to sit up straight… if her fucking body didn't hurt so badly. She could no longer differentiate the pains in her body, it was all just one big pain, plus the burning of her lip and the steady throbbing that had started up there.

It occurred to Sally that Buck was acting weird… almost remorseful. She didn't care, it didn't matter. She was going to kill him or die trying, no matter how sorry he seemed. He was talking again; she tried to make herself pay attention.

"... here for a bit while I go rustle up something to eat," she heard him say before she could force herself to look him in the eyes. That glint was gone for the moment. That just made him more dangerous as far as Sally was concerned.

Buck stood up and left the room, heading through the dining room to what Sally assumed was the kitchen. As soon as the door closed behind him she exhaled a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Sally's hands were no longer connected to her feet by the short rope, and she shoved her right hand into her right boot to grab the knife she kept there. It was a switchblade that Alex had found for her. She grasped it easily and Sally went to town, quickly cutting through the ropes on her ankles. She rearranged the ropes so at a glance they looked like they were still tied (she hoped) and stuck knife back in her boot, open. She heard Buck muttering as he got closer to the kitchen door so she checked the ropes on her feet - they looked okay - and forced herself to stay still and wait for the perfect moment.

When Buck entered the room a moment later he was carrying two bowls. "It's late, we'll eat and then I'll get you cleaned up and ready for bed. You smell dreadful. What did you do, roll in one of those geeks?"

Sally nodded slowly. "T-t-tripped and f-fell on one t-t-that was t-t-tore up," she stuttered. Every movement of her mouth was painful. She still had no idea just how bad it was.

Buck seemed satisfied with her answer and handed her the bowl. She sat there holding it, unable to use the spoon because her hands were tied together. He looked angrily at her for a second, and then he took the bowl and untied her hands. Sally rubbed the circulation back into them and he handed her the bowl once again.

He said nothing to her as he ate, he didn't even look at her. Sally was hesitant to take a bite. She knew it would be painful. She also figured that if she refused to eat Buck would beat the living shit out of her. Sally hoped to avoid that, so she hesitantly tried a bite of what looked like canned chili. She tried to avoid touching her lip with the spoon but she ended up hitting it as she pulled it out of her mouth. The pain made Sally hiss with a sharp intake of breath. She thought Buck would punish her in some way for making noise, but he didn't even look up at the sound. Sally was starting to get a bit freaked about his mood swings. She needed to get the hell out of here.

Sally had only taken about three bites by the time Buck finished his bowl. He looked at how little she'd eaten and took the bowl from her. "You're going to regret not eating more. By the time we're finished, you're going to be hungry. Oh well, either you'll learn to eat when food is in front of you or you'll starve to death like all the others," he said nonchalantly as he took the bowls and walked towards the kitchen.

As soon as he was out of sight again, Sally grabbed the small pocket knife out of her left boot, opened the blade and enclosed it in her fist. The knife was about three inches long when opened, so the blade was only an inch and a half and easily concealed in her fist. Sally didn't think she had much of a chance attacking him outright. She thought about ambushing him and throwing the switchblade at him as soon as he opened the door, but even on her best day she had never been consistent when throwing the switchblade - it wasn't balanced for throwing. At the capacity she was currently in, there was no way she could throw accurately, even with her throwing knives. Sally made up her mind, she would wait for the first opportunity, stab him in the neck or ear or eye, whichever was easiest, use the momentary confusion to get far enough away from him to get the other knife out of her boot. And then she would kill him. Sally heard Buck returning from the kitchen. She took a deep breath and folded her hands in her lap. She needed Buck to forget her hands were untied for this to work.

Buck returned from the kitchen, carrying a bottle of water. Sally maintained eye contact with him as he approached. He pulled the chair back in front of her and handed her the bottle. Sally took it with her empty hand and gingerly took a sip, trying to pour the water in her mouth without touching her lips. She poured too much too fast and it spilled down her almost bare chest. She spluttered a little, spraying water in Buck's face. Sally was horrified and froze in place, waiting for what was coming. Buck slowly raised his hand to his face and wiped the water off, staring at Sally with that look the whole time. She felt her resolve weaken the longer they sat there. The shaking came back, once again out of her control. She was, after all, sitting there in just her sports bra and underwear and now had spilled water all over herself. She was terrified and freezing.

Buck just sat there and smiled that horrible smile at her, stroking his chin. He took the water bottle and took one last look at Sally before he tilted his head back to take a drink. This was the best shot she had seen so far. Sally tensed, pushed the blade out of her closed palm and quickly swung her arm up, stabbing Buck under his chin, slightly to the right near the glands in his neck. Sally quickly jerked the small knife back towards her, trying to make the wound as big as possible.

Unfortunately for Sally, the blow didn't disable him immediately. He pushed himself back and jumped out of the chair, bellowing a myriad of curses at her. Sally jumped off the couch, with her adrenaline once again pumping; Sally forgot that her entire body was in pain. She bent over to grab the switchblade out of her boot as Buck recovered from his shock, coming to his feet and pulling the knife out of his neck. Blood was steadily flowing out of the wound, down his neck and soaking into his shirt. If she could last long enough, he'd bleed out and she would be free. Sally stood to face him with the knife in her hand.

"YOU FUCKING CUNT," Buck bellowed, trying to stem the bleeding with one hand and failing, while he spat blood with every word. "GET THE FUCK OVER HERE!" He picked up his knife and lunged at her but Sally was still on an adrenaline high and she quickly dodged out of the way.

They circled one another for a moment, Buck feinting and trying to get Sally to fall for it, but she kept her head and read his body language to know what her counter move needed to be. She was hoping to tire him out and keep the blood flowing out of him until he passed out. She wouldn't be able to take him, even in this weakened state in hand to hand combat.

Sally had her back to the dining room; Buck had his back to the locked front door. Suddenly, there was a loud crack from the front door before it burst open. Buck turned to face the new threat: Alex! She stood there with her rifle aimed at Buck's chest, looking from him to Sally and back again. Sally took her chance, she sprinted across the room, jumped onto Buck's back and brought her switchblade around, slicing his throat wide open. She let go, dropping to the ground while Buck slowly sunk to his knees, eyes wide in shock at the turn of events. Alex instantly raised her rifle and shot him between the eyes, finishing it.

Alex dropped her gun and ran to Sally who just laid there on the floor, sobbing. Alex scooped her into her arms and sat there holding her, humming a song from her childhood, thrilled Sally was still alive.

"How d-did you f-f-f-find m-m-me," Sally stuttered through her sobs.

"I just looked for the signs and got real lucky," Alex said quietly.

Sally sat up and pulled away from Alex, looking her in the eye. She took a deep breath. "I thought he was going to kill me," she whispered. "If you hadn't gotten here when you did…" She started crying again. Alex was fighting back tears of her own.

"Shh. Never mind that," Alex said, pulling Sally back to her, "I did, and you made it. You looked like you were putting up a real good fight. He's gone now, he can't hurt you anymore," she cooed.

Sally sat back up at the words "he's gone" and picked up her switchblade from the floor next to her. Alex didn't say anything, just watched the girl. Sally walked over to the body and saw his hunting knife, still gripped in his hand. Sally bent down and took it from him, then she straddled his body and began stabbing him violently and repeatedly, much like Alex had so long ago in the beginning of the apocalypse. She knew what Sally was doing and why, so she just watched as Sally destroyed the man that had destroyed her.


	6. Chapter 6 Come Together

Jake spent the rest of the afternoon making sure that everything continued running smoothly. He spent some time with Tim and Ellie at Billy's grave. They still weren't talking and no one had said anything about having a service, but Jake knew that the group needed one. He hoped Alex would be back by then, she and Billy had become good friends and this was going to hit her hard when she returned.

He personally checked in on all the teams, talking to people and answering questions, and boy were there a lot of questions. People asking if they could step up and help, asking if they were going to be okay without Billy, asking if Alex was alright, asking if there would be another attack. Jake did his best to calm people's nerves and answer their questions, knowing that panic was their biggest enemy at this point. He had never planned on doing any of this alone but now that it was in his lap he was going to do everything he could to fill Billy's shoes.

By dinnertime, it seemed like all the one-on-one time Jake put in was helping. People didn't look as stressed and anxious as they had earlier that afternoon. Jake was glad for it, too. He'd hardly had a minute to himself and had missed lunch altogether. Jake made his way to the bunkhouse, hoping to scare up something to eat and was intercepted by Betty as he tried to enter the kitchen.

"Just what do you think you're doing in my kitchen," she asked with a kind smile.

"I was just gonna see if there's anythin' left from lunch… was too busy ta eat," he said with a grin. He knew Betty was teasing him, seeing as how she was busy putting a plate together for him as they spoke.

"Now, Jake, you know all you have to do is ask, any time, day or night and I will be happy to make something for you." She handed him a plate full of beef steak, vegetables and homemade cornbread. "You better eat it all, we're counting on you to keep us safe, gotta keep your strength up!"

Jake thanked the old woman profusely before taking his plate outside to one of the picnic tables. He shoveled food in his mouth like he hadn't eaten in days. When he looked up, the young woman they'd rescued, Becky, was standing there shyly. He quickly swallowed his food and smiled at her.

"Ya gettin' settled in," he asked her as he took a bite of cornbread.

Becky smiled back at him. "Yes, Betty and Norma have been wonderful. We even got hot showers," she said with awe in her voice. "And they said we can have our own trailer, too." The girl looked awkward when she said that for some reason, why, Jake had no idea.

"Yeah, we got plenty of space fer everyone here," he said finding the conversation increasingly strange.

Becky stood there, playing with a strand of her hair, looking like she was working up to saying something. Jake thought he'd hurry things along. He wasn't one for conversation, let alone awkward conversations with strangers. "Didja want somethin," he asked in his nicest voice.

Becky flushed, her chest, neck and face rapidly taking on color. Then she looked Jake in the eye, which made him even more uncomfortable. "I don't know how you people do things around here, but I just wanted you to know that if I have to belong to someone I want it to be you… you seem like a nice person… not like those guys that beat us all the time… I just -"

It took Jake a second to comprehend what she was saying to him. When he figured it out, he cut her off mid-sentence. "Don't finish tha' sentence," Jake said quickly. "Ya don't belong ta no one but yerself, ya hear me." Jake asked aggressively. The idea that this young girl thought she had to give herself to him made him sick. Becky looked confused and hurt.

"I didn' mean ta shout like that, jus' makes me angry tha' someone did that ta all of ya," Jake said, gesturing to the bench seat across from him. Becky took it reluctantly.

"I toldja already tha we ain't like that. Ya gotta work an' help keep tha ranch runnin' but ya don't owe us nothin' other than that ta stay here. Anybody tells ya different, ya come tell me, okay," Jake asked. He was hoping to turn this conversation around quickly. He had tons of other things to take care of still.

"Okay," Becky said slowly, as if the realization of how good these people were was hard for her to understand. "You really mean it?"

"Girl, I know ya don't know me, but I promise ya I ain't never joked 'bout rapin' little girls," Jake said as calmly as he could.

"I'm not a little girl," Becky said. "I'm nineteen."

Jake just smiled at her. Having nothing else to say, he returned to his meal.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you," she said as she got up from the table.

"Didn't," Jake said with his mouth full. He gulped down the food in his mouth before finishing. "I ain't offended by ya, I'm offended that people would treat ya like that. No one should be treated like that."

Becky looked at him like he'd grown a second head. Jake was confused by it. "What," he asked.

"Nothing. I just… that's the first time I've heard someone say that since everything went bad… those men kept telling us that we couldn't protect ourselves so we owed them and since we didn't have anything to pay them with…" her voice drifted off, leaving the thought unfinished.

Jake could see tears gathering in her eyes. He wished he'd just waited to eat until dinner. This was getting uncomfortable. As much as he didn't want to, he knew that the right thing to do was to offer comfort to the girl. He got up from the bench and moved to the other side to sit next to her. Jake put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a little squeeze, causing her to turn to face him. As soon as she did the tears began spilling down her face and she threw herself into Jake's chest. He loosely wrapped his arms around the girl and began gently rubbing circles on her back, much like he had when Alex was having a hard time coping with the loss of her mother.

After about five minutes, Becky still hadn't calmed and Jake saw Shelly Sullivan walking towards the bunkhouse. He waved her over. Shelly was one of the women that made up the "welcome wagon," the group of women that took the new arrivals under their wings and helped them get settled in to the Lazy H. They had seen this before, most new arrivals, especially women, often needed a period of adjustment to being in a safe environment. Most of them had been abused in some manner, either physically or sexually, prior to being found by members of the Lazy H. Shelly, Kathy and the other established women worked very closely with the newcomers to help them transition and they quite often ended up living in the bunkhouse with Betty and Norma until they felt comfortable moving into their own space. It had worked well for them so far.

Shelly moved in as Jake scooted back so she could take his place. Becky didn't seem to care, she just needed someone to comfort her. Shelly looked at Jake and nodded to him, giving him permission to leave, for which he was very grateful. He gathered his plate and utensils and took them back to the bunkhouse, setting them in the wash bin for the kids to wash later. He thanked Betty again for feeding him and asked her if she needed anything before he went out to wrap up the rest of his errands for the day.

Jake found Doc in the barn, going through the supply room with Kathy. They stopped when he entered the room. "Well, how's it looking out there? Everyone seem okay," Doc asked.

"Good as can be expected, I suppose," Jake said. "Think I talked ta everyone that lives here today, 'cept fer Alex, Sally an' tha six people out on patrol. Spent a lotta time tellin' people we ain't expectin' another attack cuz we killed all tha people in tha camp," he said as he lit a cigarette. It was only the second one he'd had today, not because he didn't want one, but because he hadn't had time to smoke. "How're Tim an' Ellie doin'? They still at the grave?"

"Yes, they're still down there. I last checked on them about an hour ago. They got the hole dug but seemed reluctant to put Billy in it. I figured we'd just let them sit for as long as they needed. They've earned the time to mourn," Doc said. Jake nodded in agreement.

Jake spent another couple of hours with Doc and a few others planning the next couple of days. Jake was anxious to get out there looking for Alex, but he really couldn't just leave with things like they were. He was hoping that Tim and Ellie would be ready to get back to work by the morning, but he immediately felt selfish for having the thought. He missed Billy too, in fact, Jake didn't really know how they were going to make this work without him. Billy had been so integral to them establishing the survivor camp, he'd been the backbone of the council and had easily implemented almost every idea that Alex had about their camp. He had been a great friend to Jake for ten years; he would be sorely missed every day.

By the time they'd finished planning it was time for dinner. Jake didn't know where the day had gone, time had just flown by and though it didn't feel like it to him, he had accomplished a lot. He was out of his mind with worry for Alex and Sally, he even thought about taking off now and travelling through the night to find them, but he knew that was stupid. At this point they could be on their way home and he would miss them and not even know it. He had no choice but to keep waiting and hoping that they were alright. Jake wouldn't forgive himself if anything happened to Alex.

At dusk, when the shift changed for the perimeter teams, Jake made sure to talk to everyone that he'd missed earlier. Zach had been out on the perimeter, even though he'd been up all night and gone on both of the runs with Jake that day. Someone had gotten sick out on the line and radioed in for a replacement. Zach had been nearby and offered to help. Doc had tried to talk him out of it but Zach insisted on doing his part and covered the rest of the man's shift. After Jake had finished talking to the others, Zach took a seat next to him on the tailgate of Jake's truck. Jake offered him a cigarette, but Zach declined.

"I gotta keep my lungs in top shape, never know when I'm going to have to run a marathon," Zach joked. Though it wasn't really much of a joke - it was possible that they could be attacked and lose this place. Then they could very well be on the run.

Jake offered a slight smile. "Thanks fer steppin' up today. I really 'preciate it. Don't know what I woulda done without ya today." He clapped Zach on the shoulder and they sat there quietly for a while, looking at the stars that were just starting to come out. The sunset had been spectacular that evening and the night was setting in. Another night without Alex. Jake didn't think he'd be able to sleep tonight, exhausted or not. The worry was too great.

"Still no Alex, I take it," Zach said with a sigh. Jake shook his head. "She'll be back, man. Maybe a little banged up, but she'll be back."

Jake nodded and said thanks and continued to sit there smoking, trying not to think about Alex being eaten by the dead or beaten and raped by some lunatics and failing miserably. This was going to be a long night.

§

After Sally finished destroying the corpse, Alex went through the house looking for clothes that would fit the girl until they got home. She was so fucking angry but she had to keep her anger tamped down because her anger wasn't what Sally needed right now. Alex found a pair of sweatpants that looked like they would work as well as a t-shirt and long sleeve flannel. It wasn't that cold, but Alex figured Sally would want to cover up. She was also on the lookout for first aid supplies, which she found a decent supply of in the master bathroom. She grabbed a couple of other flannel shirts to use as slings and a clean bed sheet to use for wraps, just in case.

Alex returned to the kitchen to find Sally right where she'd left her, laying on the kitchen floor. After she'd worn herself out stabbing Buck, turning his body into not much more than a pile of guts on the floor, Alex had picked Sally up and physically dragged her to the kitchen, away from the horrible scene. Sally hadn't moved since then, she just lay there and cried. Alex knew a thing or two about assault and trauma and she didn't try to push the girl. Instead, Alex went about gathering the supplies she would need to clean her up and get her home.

Sally was in pretty bad shape. Both of her eyes had swollen mostly shut and were already turning purple; there were cuts on both her cheeks where she'd been hit and Alex had no idea what had happened to her bottom lip, but it was extremely swollen and she could tell that it had been cut clear through in two places. As she leaned in to inspect her lip closer, Alex figured out what it was she was looking at: that fucker had bit her! He'd practically bit her lip off! Alex thought it might need stitches, but she couldn't tell for sure because the swelling was so bad. She'd found a needle and some thread, but she wasn't going to try to stitch it up since the bleeding had stopped and they were in a bit of a hurry. It was well after midnight, which meant they were almost ten hours late in returning home. And from the looks of Sally, it would still be a while yet before she was ready to travel.

Sally's eyes were open but she wasn't responding to anything that Alex said. Alex talked to her anyway, explaining what she was doing and telling her stories about her childhood. Alex cleaned Sally's cuts as gently as possible, making sure to clean them well with the rubbing alcohol she'd found. Alex was not looking forward to cleaning Sally's lip, but she remembered Doc telling her that human bites had a high rate of infection and that it was important to clean them well immediately. The cut on her thigh had finally stopped bleeding after Alex cleaned it and applied pressure to it for a few minutes. She put some of the sterile gauze she found over it and wrapped a length of the torn sheet around it as a bandage. She placed butterfly bandages over the cuts on Sally's cheeks and then began the process of trying to wrap her chest to support her likely fractured ribs.

They had to ride the horses home and there was no way around it, Sally was going to be in pain the entire way. All they could do is ride slowly to jostle her as little as possible. Alex considered taking the truck and driving the long way to get home, but it would take longer than the slow horse ride would take and Alex wanted to get her home to be looked at by the doctor.

With Sally not participating in the process - she wouldn't raise her arms when Alex asked - it took Alex some time to get the strips of sheet that she'd cut up wrapped tightly around Sally's chest and secured. The girl grimaced as Alex manipulated her arms and pulled the wrap tightly, but that was the extent of her reaction.

Now it was time to clean Sally's lip. Alex thought the best way would be to have Sally lay on her side so Alex could just pour the rubbing alcohol on it and it would run onto the floor. She explained to the girl what she was doing as she gently helped her lay down. Alex put her hand on Sally's shoulder to hold her still, she knew this was going to hurt like hell. When Alex began pouring, Sally didn't move, didn't even flinch. Alex's worry for the girl increased exponentially.

After the lip was cared for to the best of Alex's abilities, she dressed Sally in the clothes she'd scavenged from the house. Sally was dressed and cared for, but now Alex didn't know what she was going to do. She couldn't carry Sally all the way back to the barn where the horses were - that was a six mile walk. She couldn't even carry her to the truck that Alex had discovered in the garage when she was looking for first aid supplies. Alex tried helping Sally to her feet to see if the girl would take steps, at least a few, with Alex's support. Sally still didn't respond to her, but she did shuffle one foot in front of the other, enough to get her to the couch in the front room. Sally sat and stared at the pile of Buck on the floor; Alex hated to have her in the room with him, but she didn't have much choice right now.

She went out to the garage, grabbed the keys off the hook next to the door and started up the truck without any problems. She pulled it around to the front door, parking as close to the house as possible. She went inside and grabbed all of the supplies she'd found, plus the bag that she assumed was Buck's and threw them all in the back of the truck. Then she went and got Sally and helped her out and into the vehicle and they set off for the horses.

Alex had to stop and put Sally's seatbelt on after she turned onto the main road and Sally slumped forward from the momentum. When she didn't try to right herself, Alex stopped the truck and belted her in. As they got closer to the barn, Alex found several dead walking along the road. She slowed to take them out with her rifle before moving on.

At the barn, Alex left Sally locked in the truck while she went inside and got the horses ready. She had considered tying Sally onto her horse, but given the fact that she had just escaped from a crazy person that had tied her up, she thought that might further add to her trauma. Alex decided she would pack all of their stuff on Sally's horse and they would ride double on her hers. She found some crates next to the barn that she used to build steps to get Sally up on the horse and then she tied their bags of supplies onto Sally's horse.

When there was nothing else to prepare, Alex got Sally out of the truck and walked her up the crates. She helped Sally onto the horse before climbing on behind her. Dawn was near, the dark night sky was beginning to lighten to gray in the east. Alex wrapped one arm around Sally, took the reins in the other and lightly dug her heels into the horse's side, spurring her to head for home.

§

Jake sat on the porch, smoking what his lungs thought was his hundredth cigarette in the last four hours. He'd finally left the barn to call it a night sometime around midnight. He'd taken a shower, trying to trick his body into relaxing under the hot water but it didn't work. Then he tried lying in bed, also no good. He was surrounded by Alex's scent in their bed and it only made him toss and turn, thinking about all of the horrible things that could have happened to keep her from coming home on time. Around 4 a.m. he gave up on the idea of sleep and settled in on the porch, smoking and watching as the sky slowly went from black to grey and the stars began to disappear. He couldn't help but think of all the time he and Alex had spent in that same seat, watching the same sky paint itself for the day.

At 6 a.m. he decided to head back down to the barn, grab some food and start his day. He couldn't stand the thought of another day without Alex. As much as he wanted to go after her, he couldn't leave the ranch on the off chance that something happened to him as well. He just kept having the same argument with himself over and over in his head: _Go get her! Stay here and do your job!_ It was loud in his head this morning.

At the bunkhouse, Betty handed Jake his plate, piled high with extra bacon, and he joined Doc, Tim and Ellie who were already seated at a picnic table.

"You look like shit," Tim said. "Rough night?"

"Try rough coupla days," Jake said, shoving some bacon into his mouth. "How're you two holdin' up," he asked Ellie and Tim.

"We are doin' better today," Ellie said. "We spent a lot of time talking last night and we both realized that Billy would be angry with us for letting everyone down and not doing our jobs. He was so passionate about making this place work, we can't let him down. It still hurts, it'll always hurt, but we know he wouldn't want us sitting around crying all day."

"He was my best friend and my brother, I've never done anythin' without him. I know better than anyone how much this place meant to him, how much you and Alex meant to him. I'll do everythin' I can to make sure that Billy's vision for this place is brought to life," Tim said.

"We were just talking about having a service for him when you walked up," Doc said. "We were thinking about doing it later this morning."

Jake stared at his plate. He didn't want Alex to miss Billy's service. She would be devastated. "Okay," he said simply.

"If it doesn't work for you we can do it tomorrow," Ellie said, picking up on Jake's mood. "How about we wait until Alex gets back," she suggested, realizing what it was that was bothering Jake.

"Oh, man, I'm sorry, I forgot she wasn't back," Tim said. "Of course we'll wait 'til she gets back."

"Okay," Jake repeated. He didn't really know what to say. Was Alex even coming back? What if something happened that she couldn't handle on her own? What if she was dead? Jake shoved the rest of his food in his mouth and picked up his plate to drop it in the wash bin. "Ya'll think ya can handle thangs? I gotta go look fer 'em… it's been too long," Jake said to the table.

"We can handle things, Jake, but are you sure you want to take off now? It hasn't even been a full day yet… They could be on their way back now and you could miss them. They probably just ran into a little trouble and had to take a detour," Doc said. "Don't get me wrong, I'm concerned for them too, but Alex is a tough woman. She's overcome a lot. Give her another twelve hours before you go after them," Doc said. Ellie nodded in agreement.

Jake thought it over. He couldn't just sit around here anymore. There was too much talking and planning and not enough doing when you were in charge of everything. "I can't jus' sit 'round no more waitin'. I'm gonna go find their tracks, follow 'em fer awhile. If I don't see nothin' by noon, I'll head back," Jake said.

"Alright," Doc said. "We'll keep things running around here, don't worry about a thing."

"Take a walkie with ya," Tim said, "just in case you need to call for back up."

Jake nodded. "Thanks. I'll letcha know if I find anythin'." He went to the store room and grabbed a pair of walkies, tossing the other to Tim. He went by the house to grab his gear before taking off.

§

Alex was exhausted. She'd gotten a few hours of sleep the first night they were out, before they were attacked, but she'd been running on adrenaline ever since, for over twenty four hours now. Her muscles were sore, her head hurt and her brain was fried. Sally was a total wreck. They'd been riding along quietly for three hours and they were finally nearing home. Another couple of hours and Sally could get the care she needed. And Alex could make sure that Jake was okay.

Sally hadn't made a sound the entire ride. They'd had a little trouble about an hour into the ride when they came across a small group of dead, but Alex took all three out quickly. The reason they'd known there were dead nearby was because Penny, Alex's horse, had stopped in her tracks and started pawing at the ground with her hoof. Alex was immediately on alert and since the sun was starting to come up she had been able to clearly see the dead as they wandered through the brush towards the riders. Alex picked them off before they were able to come through the tree line.

Alex had considered stopping to give Sally a little break, but she didn't want to take her off the horse without knowing she could get her back on. And honestly she just wanted to push on and get home. It had taken them just under four hours to ride from the ranch to the place they were ambushed. The way they were travelling this morning it looked like it was going to take them closer to six hours to get back. They were about halfway there.

Another hour passed and Alex brought the horses to a stop. She leaned over to the other horse and pulled a bottle of water out of one of the packs. After taking a drink, Alex offered it to Sally but the girl ignored her. Alex wasn't surprised. She put the bottle back in the pack and they moved on. From somewhere close by Alex heard a twig snap and she brought her rifle up from where it hung over her back. She looked around Sally, trying to find the source of the sound. They were incredibly vulnerable at the moment and Alex wasn't in the mood to deal with another attack.

"Al," she heard Jake's voice say from ahead of them. It was quickly followed by him stepping out of the shadows. He looked from one to the other of his girls and was at the horse's side in an instant.

"Jake," Alex exhaled. "I'm so happy to see you."

"What tha hell happened," he asked, looking at Sally. "Is she okay?"

"She's okay for the moment, but we really need to get her to the doctor… probably a concussion, maybe fractured ribs, and her lip… I don't know if anything can be done to fix it. I'll explain everything on the way," Alex said.

Jake nodded and quickly rearranged the packs on Sally's horse so he could ride it back. It only took a few minutes and then they were once again moving forward.

Alex told Jake the story from the beginning, about how she heard the bird calls that weren't birds, the failed ambush, Sally and Alex's attempt at torture for the purpose of getting info, the discovery of the map and the dead farm. When she got to that part of the story, Jake about fell off of his horse.

"They were jus' gatherin' 'em in pens an' leavin' 'em? That don't make no sense," Jake said.

"Just wait, it gets weirder," Alex said before telling him about the trench coats they'd found with body parts of the dead sewn on them.

"Wait, ya did WHAT," Jake asked loudly when she told him they put on the coats and herded the herd to the enemy camp. "What tha hell's a matter with ya? Why didn't ya jus' come home an' get backup?"

"We talked about it, but those guys, you should have heard what they were saying about raping little girls… between that and the dead pens, we really thought these guys were an immediate threat that couldn't wait. We didn't want to leave them and have them take someone else in the meantime. It seemed so simple at the time," Alex said with regret.

Jake didn't want to talk about the rest of what happened with Sally sitting there so he asked all of the burning questions he had about the herd and the trench coats.

"So they couldn't smell ya… that's somethin'," Jake said. "Maybe we can use that somehow ta help protect tha perimeter… keep 'em away from tha fences."

Alex nodded. "Yeah, we can use them offensively too. It was pretty easy to get them to go where we wanted. They're like killer lemmings," Alex said.

"We coulda used 'em yesterday," Jake said sadly.

"What happened," Alex asked.

Jake explained his and Tim's run, their attack on the way back, Tim getting shot, the prisoner and their battle plan. He left out the part about the actual fight.

"Wow. Tim's okay, though, right," Alex asked.

Jake nodded. "Yeah, Tim's okay, but Al, we did have some losses."

It took Alex a second to process what Jake said. "Wait, what? I thought-"

Jake cut her off. "We had a good plan, it just wasn't good enough." He didn't want to talk about this in front of Sally. "I'll explain everythin' once we get home an' get Sally ta tha doctor."

They rode in silence for the better part of an hour, each digesting the news that the other had shared. The closer they got to home the more the horses tried to pick up the pace on their own accord. Jake and Alex had to continually rein them in so they wouldn't jostle Sally too much. The girl had closed her eyes, Alex didn't think she was sleeping because she had started moaning slightly just after she closed them, and as long as they kept the horses walking, her pain level shouldn't have increased, unless there was something wrong that Alex had missed. She whispered her concerns to Jake, who visually assessed the girl from where he was. He didn't see any new blood anywhere, so they had to assume whatever it was was internal and therefore not something they would be able to address at the moment. The best thing to do was to keep moving.

When they were a little ways out, Jake radioed in and told them they were about twenty minutes out and would need the doctor ready for them at the makeshift clinic. Tim said they would be ready and waiting for them.

When they reached the guesthouse-turned-clinic, Jake carried Sally inside while Alex handed the horses off to Zach.

"Glad you made it back," he told Alex. "Don't worry about the horses, I'll take care of them and put your things in the barn."

Alex nodded to him in thanks and followed Jake inside. They were already in the process of removing Sally's clothes to get a better look at her injuries.

"She didn't tell me anything about what happened," Alex told the doctor. "But when I found her she was still talking, moving on her own. Wasn't until after that she stopped talking and moving. Her ribs looked pretty bad and we had to ride the horses back, so I wrapped them as tight as I could to help with the horse ride. The cuts on her face and leg stopped bleeding with some pressure and I did the best I could to clean her lip. She didn't say, but I'm pretty sure that fucker that took her almost bit her lip off. Doc told me that human bites get infected easily, so I made sure to pour what rubbing alcohol I had on it. I hope it was enough."

"You did a great job, Alex. I'm going to re-clean everything and I think I might be able to fix her lip up once the swelling goes down a bit and we're certain there isn't any infection. We'll give her a course of antibiotics, just to be safe. I'm afraid it's going to hurt her a bit when I take the wrapping off of her chest, why don't you hold her hand while we get started," Dr. Benson said.

Alex moved to Sally's side and held her limp hand while the doctor removed the strips of bedsheet Alex had bound her in. Sally didn't wince or make any movement throughout the process. Alex watched as Dr. Benson gently palpated along Sally's ribs, checking to see if there was a break. The bruising was terrible and had spread since Alex had dressed the girl that morning.

Dr. Benson finished examining the ribs and moved to Sally's head, checking the wound where she'd been knocked out and shining the light into her eyes to check her reaction. He tested her reflexes before speaking to the group that was gathered.

"She definitely has a concussion. But that's not why she's catatonic. I think that is a reaction to the stress of the situation she was in. She will likely begin talking in a few days. I think she should just be treated as normally as possible, continue talking to her and asking her to do things, even if it doesn't seem like she's listening. She _can_ hear you. As for the rest of her, the ribs aren't broken, per say, but it is possible there are multiple fractures. We could fire up the portable x-ray if you guys want to be certain, but the treatment would still be the same. Bed rest. Lots of it. She doesn't seem to be having any trouble breathing, so I think we can wrap her chest to help support, but she shouldn't be doing anything strenuous for at least a month, ideally," Dr. Benson told them.

"Can we take her home now," Alex asked.

"I would be more comfortable if she stayed her for observation for a few hours, just out of an abundance of caution," the doctor said.

Kathy had arrived shortly after Alex had. "I can stay with her if you want to go get cleaned up and fed, maybe take a nap. You must be exhausted," Kathy said.

Alex was grateful for the offer and she and Jake immediately headed out after telling Sally what they were doing. As soon as they were out the door, Alex turned and peppered Jake with questions. She had noticed Billy's absence at the clinic when everyone else from the council had been present. "Where's Billy? What really happened while I was gone? Why is everyone so somber around here," she asked rapidly, not giving him a chance to respond. When she finally stopped talking, Jake replied.

"Come on, let's take a walk," he said. Alex started to say something, but he held his hand up, "I'll explain as we walk," he said to her. Alex didn't object further and they walked hand in hand down towards the creek.

"Billy's dead, only casualty of our battle," Jake said quietly. He waited for her reaction to the news before answering any of her other questions. Alex's face fell as she processed Jake's words. "What happened to him," she got out before the first tears began slipping down her cheeks.

"We had a good plan, really. We got our guys out there in the area early so we could get the drop on them, we had flank attacks ready. The only downfall was the fact that we knew they were going to bring the fight to us at night. I still think there's something we missed about their attack, something that allowed some of them to slip past our lookouts with night vision scopes. I searched for clues yesterday but never found anything that would explain it. But from what we could tell, after the initial firefight, some of their guys managed to sneak around undetected and hit Billy's squad. They made it through okay, but Billy ended up in hand to hand combat with one of them. When we found Billy he still had his knife in his hand, he'd taken a number of gunshots to the chest and abdomen. It was clear that he had fought for a time after getting shot. He killed the man that had attacked him, so there's that. It was the only loss, but it was a huge one," Jake finished. He brought Alex in for a hug and held her, letting her cry on his shoulder.

"How are Tim and Ellie holding up," Alex asked when she had finally cried her tears out. She dabbed at her eyes with the handkerchief that Jake offered her and they continued walking to the water.

"It was hard on 'em, yesterday was their day ta mourn an' try t' work it out… she an' Tim told me this mornin' they're okay an' back ta their regular duties. Everyone 'round here really stepped up ta help keep thangs running while tha council was outta commission. We really coulda used ya 'round here," Jake said, kissing her on the head. "I'm just glad you an' Sally made it back, relatively okay."

"Well, we made it back. I don't know if Sally will ever be okay though. She's… he really fucked with her head, Jake. I don't even know… but those other girls we found in their barn-" Alex said before Jake interrupted her.

"Wait, what girls? What barn," he asked.

"Once we killed everyone in the camp we cleared out the buildings… there was a barn… all the stalls had young women and girls chained to the floor… they were beaten, cut, bitten, starved… some had died already and laid there chained next to the ones that were still clinging to life… he'd bitten all of them. One girl had bite marks all over her body, some were even chunks that had been bitten out… all infected and festering. It was horrible. Sally and I didn't think there was anything we could do to save them, so we put them out of their misery… now Sally…" Alex's voice trailed off as she choked back sobs that followed the rest of her thought.

Jake knew where she was going with that thought and hushed her. "Sally ain't one a those girls. She's strong, she's tough. An' she was only with him a few hours. He didn't have time ta do ta her what he did ta tha others. It's gonna take time, but she'll come through this," Jake said, holding Alex close. They were now near the creek, in a shady little bend where the water was shallow and noisy as it flowed over large rocks in the creek bed. They were the only ones around, and no one could see them from the barn. They were in their own little world.

"She'll be alright," Jake said again, as Alex rested her head on his chest, their arms wrapped around one another.

Alex lifted her head to meet Jake's eyes. "I'm glad you came back okay," Alex told him. "I don't know what I would have done if I came back and you were the one that had gotten shot… or if it was you instead of Billy… I don't think I could do any of this without you," she said, raising her arms and wrapping them around Jake's neck. She kept her body pressed close to his, their faces were close together.

Jake felt suddenly felt like he was in an oven, and he could feel his face turn red as Alex pushed herself closer to his body and brought her lips closer to his. Alex leaned in and connected their lips, cautiously at first. When she felt Jake return the pressure, she let herself go and their kiss became frenzied and passionate, like this was the only chance they'd ever have to share something like this.

Jake was caught up in the frenzy and soon he was deepening the kiss, teasing her mouth with his tongue as he walked her back against a tree. All of the stress of the last few days seemed to slip away as he lost himself in Alex. Before he knew it, they both had their hands under the other's shirt, seeking bare skin, each needing more contact.

When Jake felt Alex's fingers skim along the waist of his jeans, he was brought back to reality. He broke the kiss and pulled his hands out from under her shirt. He took a deep breath to steady himself before looking Alex in the face. She looked sad. He placed his hand under her chin and tilted it so she would look at him.

"Don't look at me like that," he said. "This ain't tha time or place… ya been through a lot an' we need ta get'cha cleaned up an' fed." He smiled at her and placed a kiss at the corner of her mouth, making Alex breakout into a smile. "That's my girl," he said in response. "Come on," he said, taking her hand. "Let's get ya ta tha house an' cleaned up. You'll feel better once yer clean an' fed," Jake told her. Alex didn't argue, she just slipped her hand into his and followed him to the house.


	7. Chapter 7 Go Crazy on You

**Author's Note: Sorry for taking so long to update... this summer has been VERY busy and it seems I have a hard time focusing on fantasy when real life is so damn interesting! I've already got another 8 chapters or so written, but they need editing and I've been away from this story for too long, so edits take a while. No promises that my writing schedule will get back on track, at least not until mid-August when the kids go back to school and all the fun times end, ha ha. Would love to hear some feedback about this story, maybe that would help get me back to work!**

* * *

Neither Jake nor Alex saw Kara hidden in the shadows, watching them as they talked. She'd been nearby when she saw them walking her way and Kara jumped into the bushes to keep from being seen. She watched intently while they talked. When that little slut Alex leaned in and put her lips on Jake's, Kara had been enraged. The nerve that little girl had to go around kissing a man that didn't belong to her! Kara then watched as Jake kissed her back and pushed her up against the tree… how dare he! How could he cheat on her with that little tramp?! Kara wasn't close enough to hear what they were saying, but when Jake pulled away it looked like they were having an intimate conversation, he kissed her again and then they walked off hand in hand towards the house.

Kara was furious. As soon as they were gone she made her way back to her trailer where she had left J.J. napping. The almost three year old was awake and wandering around the trailer when she opened the door. She snapped at him- he was supposed to be asleep for another twenty minutes! Kara picked him up roughly and put him back on the bed. The child wiggled and tried to get up, telling her, "No! No mor' nap!" over and over again. Kara began yelling and cursing at him and J.J. began crying, quickly dialing it up to screaming. She picked him up in anger and shook him, trying to get him to be quiet. When she set him back down, he was no longer crying, just staring at her blankly.

Kara thought this meant he was going to go back to sleep. She pulled the blanket back over him and brushed her hand over his head. J.J.'s head lolled to one side, but Kara didn't notice. "I'm gonna go get your daddy away from that little bitch. You be a good boy and momma will bring him back soon," she cooed at the child before she exited the trailer.

Kara didn't realize that she had snapped the child's neck when she shook him and that within a matter of minutes of her leaving the trailer, J.J. was dead.

§

It was the middle of the day, so most of the people on the ranch were out working. Kara had been assigned a job, but she never went to it and no one said anything about it. What she didn't know was that they were saying things about it, just not to her. A plan had been in the works about what to do with Kara - she had been getting worse as the months progressed and she couldn't be bothered to help with any of the jobs the council had assigned her. Before the big fight and Billy's death they had been discussing the idea of taking the child from her and banishing her from the ranch.

But the logistics of that were complicated - how could they banish her and keep her from coming back? She knew where they were. The council knew that the only real way to get rid of her was to kill her, and they couldn't, officially, bring themselves to take that action. But Jake, Alex and Ellie had talked about it, unofficially, and come to the consensus that she was only getting worse and eventually they would have to take some sort of action. But things hadn't progressed that far yet, and they had other, more pressing things to deal with, like scouting out groups that looked threatening. And now, here they were.

None of this was known to Kara. All she knew was that she was getting away with doing whatever she wanted and no one was trying to stop her. There was no one around for her to avoid and she quickly slipped up to the house unseen. She saw them through the window, kissing again before Alex went upstairs and Jake turned to leave the house. He called after her that he would be at the bunkhouse checking on the food supplies and Kara heard Alex call something back to him before he slid the door closed.

It was her big chance and she wasn't going to mess it up. Kara hid under the porch while Jake descended the stairs and walked back towards the barn. Then she ran through the brush and around the garden to approach the bunkhouse from the opposite direction as Jake was walking. She figured he would go to the barn first before going to the bunkhouse. She slipped inside and stripped all her clothes off, waiting in the shadows for Jake to come in. Luckily for Kara, no one was around the bunkhouse at the moment. She was glad those two old ladies that did all the cooking weren't around. They drove Kara insane with all their questions and gossip and intrusiveness.

She didn't have to wait long. The bunkhouse door opened and Kara saw Jake's silhouette in the entryway. She sidled up behind him while he closed the door, then wrapped her arms around him and began kissing his neck from behind.

Jake instantly knew who it was. He pried her arms from around his body and pushed her away from him. He wasn't surprised to find that she was totally naked as she threw herself to the ground - Jake hadn't pushed her hard enough to send her to the floor.

"Baby, what's wrong? Why won't you just let me fix things between us," she screeched from the floor.

"Have ya lost yer fuckin' mind," Jake railed at her as she lay there on the floor. "How many fuckin' times I gotta tell ya ta leave me tha fuck alone? I don't want ya touchin' me, I don't want ya lookin' at me, hell, I don't even want ya here. If it weren't fer that baby, you'da been out on yer ass months ago," he yelled at her.

Jake heard the sound of the door opening behind him and turned his attention in that direction for a moment, before he heard Kara getting up off the floor. He turned, instead, to face her. Just as he turned, Kara slapped him in the face. Jake instantly slapped her back, in the same, open handed way she had slapped him. It was instinct. Kara's hand flew to her face and she started screaming.

"How dare you hit me," she cried dramatically. Jake didn't stop to listen to her, he just moved to restrain her, his eyes falling on Kathy for the first time. She was the one that came through the door, distracting him before Kara slapped him. Kathy nodded to him, as if giving her approval and she went and found Kara's clothes. She helped Jake get her dressed and then walked with them to the barn. Kara yelled and cussed at him the whole way.

Jake deposited Kara in the empty horse trailer, latched the door and asked Zach, who had just returned from perimeter patrol, to guard her while he gathered the council. Alex didn't need to be present; they knew how she would vote. He found Tim in the garden; he said Ellie was due back any minute with the rest of the perimeter team. They usually began trickling back in ones and twos between 11:30 and noon, depending on when their replacements showed up. Doc was at the clinic and Kathy offered to send him back.

"Yeah, I thought ya were with Sally," Jake said.

"I was. She was sleeping, so I came back to get a book to read to her when she wakes up. Doc was with her and said he would stay until I got back, so she isn't alone," Kathy said.

"Make sure ya tell Doc what ya saw when ya came in ta tha bunkhouse, since ya won't be here ta tell everyone yerself," Jake said. "And, Kathy, thank you." She nodded to him and headed back to the clinic.

§

Kara paced around in the trailer, furious with Jake for locking her in there. She had things she needed to do, while Alex was alone and unguarded. Kara began calling out to Zach, begging him to open the door so she could go pee.

"Please! I don't wanna piss myself! Jake wouldn't want that either," she said. "I just gotta pee real quick, I promise!"

After a few moments, Kara could hear the grinding of the latch on the door being released. As soon as it was free, Kara slammed her body against it, knocking Zach in the head and leaving him unconscious on the ground. Kara took his knife from his belt and ran straight for the main house.

§

Sally could hear people talking around her like she wasn't even there. People that weren't Alex… Sally painfully opened her eyes and looked around the room as much as she could without moving her head - that hurt too much. She saw Kathy and Doc near the door talking about something. When they moved further into the hallway to have their conversation, Sally slowly sat up and got out of bed. She carefully placed her feet on the ground and stood, wincing at the pain that shot throughout her entire body. She shuffled over to the door - Kathy and Doc had moved into the kitchen, she could hear them talking about someone jumping on someone naked. Sally thought she was hearing things and all she wanted was to go home and get in her own bed.

She made her way to the front door and slipped out silently. The light was blinding and Sally's whole head was pounding. She headed for the house, slipping into the brush instead of walking on the road, since she didn't want to run into anyone. As she neared the house, Sally saw a silhouette slipping along the stairwell to the front porch. Sally's eyes were too swollen for her to make out the face of the person from this distance, but she could tell they were up to no good just by the way they were moving.

Sally made her way closer to the house, staying in the shadows to remain unseen. As she got closer, she could tell it was a woman and she was peering into the front windows of the house. Sally recognized her. It was Kara. What the fuck was Kara doing here? She wasn't supposed to be anywhere near the house. Sally quietly made her way to the back of the house and entered through the back door. She could hear the shower running - _Alex must be in there. That's why Kara's here, she knows Alex is alone and she's going to try something_ , Sally thought.

Sally grabbed a knife from the butcher block in the kitchen and made sure she wasn't seen by Kara as she found a hiding spot. She would be able to watch Kara as she entered the house and then Sally could sneak up the stairs behind her and take her out before she could try to hurt Alex.

§

Kara didn't see any movement in the house so she tested the front door. It slide open easily. Kara snuck into the house, quietly sliding the door closed behind her. She could still hear the shower running upstairs. That was good. It meant Alex was alone and vulnerable. Kara slipped up the stairs, quietly mumbling to herself about how nice the house was. She reached the bedroom that Jake and Alex shared, the door was cracked and she swung it fully open. She looked around and saw Jake's things everywhere. And they clearly shared one bed. Kara picked up a few of Alex's things off the dresser and started to throw them on the ground, but she stopped herself when she realized it was going to make a lot of noise. _No, first thing's first, get rid of the slut, then her shit,_ Kara thought to herself.

She put Alex's picture frame back on the dresser and headed for the bathroom, knife at the ready. The door wasn't closed all the way, so Kara gently pushed it open. She stepped into the bathroom, ready to fling the shower curtain open and stab Alex. Just as she was about to grasp the shower curtain, she was grabbed roughly from behind, a small arm wrapped tightly around her neck and squeezed her throat tightly. Kara tried to elbow whoever it was, but they were too fast and suddenly she found herself on the ground, just as the shower curtain was flung open.

§

Sally didn't wait for Kara to try to stab Alex; she grabbed her as soon as she started to reach for the curtain. Sally wrapped her arm around Kara's neck and squeezed her arm tight against Kara's windpipe. She dodged Kara's sloppy elbow shot and kicked her behind the knees, dropping her to the ground. Alex flung the shower curtain open just as Sally brought the kitchen knife to Kara's throat and sliced clean through her jugular, spraying crimson all over the shower curtain and Alex and a good part of the rest of the bathroom. Sally let her go and Kara slipped to the ground, gurgling as she tried to talk, her eyes wide in horror. Life slowly slipped away from her and soon Kara's eyes were empty as she laid there, her blood still flowing out onto the cold tile floor.

§

Alex couldn't help but think about the kiss that she and Jake had just shared as she stood under the hot water, washing all of the dead guts off of her. She and Jake had never kissed like that before. There had been kisses, plenty of them, but they were small and chaste and unsatisfying. At least, they were unsatisfying now that Alex had something to compare them to. She was just thinking about kissing him like that again, maybe this time it would be in their bed and it could lead to… other things.

She'd never been all that interested in the "other things" that their relationship could include, Jake had never been pushy or brought anything up and Alex had just been happy cruising along like they had been. But something changed when she was standing there with him at the creek; she was looking at him while all the horrible things that could have happened to him out on that run were playing themselves over and over in her mind. She was finally back with him and all she wanted was to be as close to him as possible. A desire that she'd never felt before pooled in her belly as she moved in to kiss him. When Jake returned the pressure, it was like a dam burst, and all of those desires crowded her brain, pushing out all rational thought.

Alex was startled out of her reverie by footsteps in the bathroom. She thought she heard sounds of a scuffle and she threw the shower curtain back, expecting to see anything but the scene she was met with. Sally was leaning over Kara, who was on her knees as Sally held her in a chokehold. Before Alex could even say anything, Sally brought a knife around and slit Kara's throat, driving the knife much harder than necessary. The next thing Alex knew, her naked body was covered in Kara's blood, as was just about everything in her eyesight.

Sally let Kara drop to the ground before she dropped the knife and fell into a sitting position next to the body. Alex grabbed her blood-soaked towel and wrapped it around her body before stepping out of the shower. She picked up the knife Sally had dropped and quickly put it in Kara's temple and left it there. The last thing they needed was for her to reanimate while they weren't looking. _That bitch has already caused enough trouble_ , Alex thought as she quickly threw some clothes on and picked Sally up off the ground. She was not catatonic; this time when Alex helped her up she supported herself and walked to the bedroom. Alex sat her in a chair just as Jake, Ellie, Tim and Doc came running into the room.

Jake took one look at the blood on Alex and ran to her, grabbing her arms and spinning her around to look her over.

"I'm fine, Jake. It's not my blood. It's Kara's," she said. She raised her hand and touched his cheek, looking into his eyes. "Really, I'm okay," she said, giving him one last look before she addressed the rest of the room. "I don't really know what happened, I heard something while I was showering, I opened the curtain and Sally had Kara on her knees in a headlock."

Doc, Ellie and Tim moved to the bathroom to take a look. "How did she end up dead," Doc asked.

"I killed her," Sally's muffled voice carried through the silent room. "She was gonna kill Alex, so I killed her." Alex moved over to Sally and put her arms around the girl, hugging her close to her body. Sally returned the hug, albeit weakly. "Can I go to my room now," Sally asked. "I just came here to sleep in my own bed," she said quietly.

"Sure, Sal, ya go on an' get some rest, jus' tell me one thing," Jake said. Sally looked at him and held his gaze. "Why'dja kill 'er? Ya coulda just knocked her out, why slit her throat?"

Sally looked around the room with her swollen eyes, taking them all in before answering. "Crazy bitch was gonna kill Alex. Been talkin' shit about her and makin' her life miserable since she got here. None of you were willing to solve the problem, so I solved it for you. She was a danger and needed to be eliminated. Now can I go to bed," she asked.

Alex nodded and helped Sally down the hall to her room. After getting the girl tucked in, Alex returned to her room. They were still milling around in the bathroom, Jake and Tim were getting the body wrapped up while Ellie and Doc were beginning clean up. Alex heard a commotion from downstairs and went to see what it was.

"Jake! Jake! We got a situation!" Zach was yelling at the top of his as he came through the front door.

"We're up here! What's going on," Alex asked him from the stairs.

"Somebody's been bit! We gotta get down to the barn now," Zach yelled at her while he stormed the stairs. Alex yelled to the others and by the time Zach was at the top of the stairs they were all ready to head back down.

"What tha fuck happened," Jake asked as they were running down to the barn.

"Don't know… Sadie Horton, Maggie's girl, she usually picks up J.J. from Kara after lunch and spends the afternoon babysitting him… she went to get him, we heard screams, she came running back to the barn, one of her fingers bit and bleeding. Doc Benson happened to be there, he cut her hand off at the wrist, hoping to keep the infection from spreading. He was cauterizing it when I left to come get you guys," Zach managed to get out while they were running.

They arrived to chaos at the barn. There were screams coming from Maggie who knelt at her daughter's side while the doctor worked. Sadie was out cold on the ground. There was another group gathered around the trailer that was Kara's and J.J.'s. Jake, Alex, Zach and Tim headed that way while Ellie and Doc stopped with the injured girl.

The crowd at the trailer was backing up slowly and staring at something on the ground. Jake knew what they would find when the crowd parted. Sure enough, there was J.J., crawling around on the ground, head flopping about as he moved. Jake went to pull his rifle, but Alex was already ahead of him, she had her knife out and knelt on the ground, holding J.J. still with one hand while she plunged her knife into his soft skull. No one moved. Alex stepped into the trailer and grabbed a blanket, then wrapped the small body in it. Jake took him from Alex and they walked back to the rest of the council.

Dr. Benson was moving Sadie to the clinic to further treat the wound and the council members were starting to piece together what had happened. Zach came and stood by Alex and Jake, his eyes on the tiny bundle Jake cradled in his arms. Jake wasn't looking at it, but tears were slowly dripping down his cheeks. Zach put his hand on Jake's shoulder and squeezed slightly.

"Here, let me take him for you," Zach said, holding out his arms. Jake looked at him but didn't move to give him J.J. Zach continued, "Seriously, man, let me take him. I'll take him to the clinic and the nurse can help me get him cleaned up. It's the least I can do. Come on, Jake, let me take him."

Alex nudged his arm, Jake looked at her and back to Zach before gingerly handing J.J. over. Zach held him carefully, as if he were still alive, and made his way slowly over to the clinic. Jake wiped his face and focused back on Tim.

"So far we've managed to piece most of it together, I think," Tim said. "We think Kara killed J.J. by breaking his neck and left him there while she went after Alex. We all know why she was going after Alex. If it hadn't been for Sally, we could be looking at a whole different scenario."

Sally! Alex had forgotten and left her alone at the house. Everything was so crazy when they'd left.

"I gotta get back to Sally," Alex told Jake. He nodded.

"I won't be long. Gonna finish up here, make sure Sadie an' Maggie are doin' alright. Then I'll be up ta check on ya," Jake said.

§

The house was quiet. Sally had wanted to sleep when everyone was in the room looking at her. But as soon as Alex helped her into bed, the tiredness went away and Sally just laid there, listening to the sounds of the house. She heard the commotion and yelling downstairs, heard them all stomping up the stairs and then back down again. And then the house was silent.

Sally raised her hand to her face, feeling her lip, the cuts on her cheeks and her swollen eyes. Not being able to identify any of the things she was touching, Sally got out of bed and slowly made her way over to her vanity, sitting in the chair and staring into the mirror. She didn't recognize herself. She moved her fingers, touching each deformed part, trying to remember what she looked like yesterday before this happened to her. She took the clothes off that someone had helped her into and continued to look in the mirror. She didn't recognize the person that was looking back at her. Her chest was well wrapped, but she could see the black and blue bruising peeking out of the edges of the wrapping. And the pain, she could feel the pain every time she moved, with each breath she took.

But it didn't matter. The pain was just a part of her now, a part of this new existence. Sally looked down at the ugly red gash on her thigh being held together by butterfly bandages. She pulled them off one at a time and dropped them on the floor. Sally ran her fingers up and down the line, waiting to feel something. But she felt nothing. She looked around the room; her eyes fell on the first hunting knife Alex had given her, sitting on her bedside table. She'd left it there, choosing to take a newer one she'd found out on a training run with Alex, when they'd left two days ago. She retrieved the knife and returned to the vanity.

Sally stared at the cut on her thigh as she ran the blade up and down along the cut. Pretty soon it was bleeding, and Sally watched as it dripped down her thigh. She took one of her fingers and wiped it through the blood. _"So that's what you really taste like,"_ she heard Buck's voice echo in her head. Sally took the blood covered finger and stuck it in her mouth. _That's what I taste like_ , she thought. Sally put the finger back in the blood and wiped it around. She poked at the cut, but still couldn't feel it.

Sally held the tip of the blade to her thigh and slowly began applying pressure. More blood began seeping out as the blade dug deeper and deeper. Sally was finally starting to feel something and she could tell tears were welling up in her eyes. But she didn't feel any pain. And she couldn't stop Buck's voice from echoing in her head: " _...the young ones… have to be eased into things. They break real easy if you work them too hard too fast."_

That's what she was now, just another broken girl. She wasn't tough, she wasn't a "self-rescuing princess" like Alex wanted her to be, she was just a broken, worthless little girl, with nothing in this world.

§

"Sally! Holy fuck! What are you doing," Alex yelled as her eyes took in the scene. As she rushed to Sally Alex grabbed a shirt off the back of the chair, wadded it up and gently removed the knife from Sally's thigh and placed the shirt over the gushing wound, applying pressure.

Alex looked at Sally's face but couldn't tell if the girl was listening. Alex placed her free hand on Sally's shoulder and gently rubbed what she hoped were soothing circles, trying to get through to the poor girl. Alex was familiar with self-mutilation, but this was way beyond what she had ever considered doing to herself. Sally needed help that Alex couldn't provide.

After about five minutes, Alex pulled back the shirt; the wound was still bleeding profusely. Shit. Alex needed to get her to the clinic. She looked around for something she could use to keep the bandage on while she tried to get Sally down the stairs. Alex left Sally's side just long enough to grab a clean t-shirt from Sally's dresser and the belt from Sally's robe. She replaced the t-shirt and tied the belt around it as tight as she dared, not wanting to cut her circulation off and risk damaging Sally's leg permanently.

"Sally, come on, kiddo, we gotta get to the truck. Can you help me get you down the stairs," Alex asked her hopefully as she gently pulled her hand, trying to urge the girl to get up. No good. Alex couldn't carry her down the stairs and she couldn't leave her alone again, she was in too fragile of a state to be trusted alone. Alex heard truck tires crunching on the gravel outside the house. She ran to the window and threw it open. It was Jake's truck. "Jake! Jake! It's Sally," she yelled out the window. Jake slammed on the brakes and was flying out of the truck, Doc not far behind him. Alex returned to Sally's side and waited for the cavalry to arrive.

She soon heard boots pounding across the hardwood floors downstairs and then beating on the stairs.

"Al! What's wrong," Jake yelled from the hall before he appeared in the doorway, Doc peering around him. They both flew into action; Jake picked Sally up from the chair and set her on the bed so Doc could examine her. Doc gently removed the tie and lifted the bandage, then quickly replaced it.

"It's pretty deep. We should get her to the clinic. Dr. Benson will be able to get her all taken care of," Doc said. Jake picked Sally up again and carried her to the truck. They all piled in, Sally with Alex and Doc in the back while Jake drove them the short distance to the clinic.

When Jake burst through the clinic doors carrying a bleeding Sally for the second time that day the nurse looked at them like she couldn't process the sight. Dr. Benson entered the room and immediately began telling everyone what to do. They put Sally in the same room as before and Dr. Benson removed the makeshift bandage to examine the damage. He gave some orders for supplies and medicine, the nurse ran out of the room after the supplies and Doc went to the medicine lock up to retrieve the sedatives he asked for. They were going to knock her out, both because she would be better off while Dr. Benson cleaned the wound and stitched her up from the inside out, and because she really needed the dreamless sleep that it offered.

When they were ready to get started, Dr. Benson dismissed Jake and Alex from the room. "Don't worry, you two go on and get some rest, take care of whatever you need to take care of. I'm going to keep her sedated for at least the next 24 hours. She needs rest so her body can heal. And her mind too," he told them. "I promise, I'll have someone come and get you before I wake her up, and she's one of two patients that we've got to take care of right now, so she'll be well looked after."

Not having any further reason to stay, they returned to the house and the daunting task of cleaning up the bathroom. Alex had always thought her father was crazy for building all of their bathrooms as "wet rooms" - the entire room was tiled floor to ceiling with a drain in the middle of the room. The shower was differentiated from the rest of the room by a 4-inch tiled "curb" and the shower curtain and its own drain. Alex no longer thought her dad was nuts, but he probably never had this type of cleanup in mind. After Jake finished wrapping Kara's body, he carried her out to his truck. They removed everything that couldn't get sprayed down and then bleached the entire room and hosed it. Alex watched as Jake squeegeed the last remnants of Kara's blood into the drain.

Jake gathered all the towels and clothing from the room that had gotten blood on them and took them to the laundry room and set them to soak in the washer. Before returning to their bedroom, Jake made sure the guest bathroom had towels in it. When he walked back into their bathroom, he found Alex staring down at the drain. Her shoulders were hunched and from behind her body language said she was defeated. She was still covered in both Kara and Sally's blood, exhausted and unfed. Jake came up behind her and scooped her up in his arms, making Alex squeal in surprise.

"What are you doing," she cried.

"Takin' care of ya," Jake said as he carried her into the guest bath. He set her down gently and gave her a quick kiss. "Ya go on an' get cleaned up. Then we'll get ya fed an' in bed," he said, caressing her cheek with his hand.

"But there's still more blood to clean up… in Sally's room," Alex said as she tried to head for the door. Jake blocked her way.

"Nope," Jake said with a smile. "Ya seen enough of Sally's blood today. Yer exhausted. Take yer shower. I'll clean it up," Jake said, pointing her towards the shower.

Alex looked like she was going to respond, but thought better of it. "I am pretty tired… and I could eat a buffalo," she joked. Her smile quickly faded though. "What are we gonna do about Sally," Alex asked with tears in her eyes. "What if she can't get better? What if she can't take care of herself anymore," Alex choked out before she started crying.

Jake pulled her into a hug and held her, gently running his hand up and down her back. After a few minutes, Alex's sobs slowed. "Stop it now," Jake said quietly. "Sally's a tough girl. This is bad, I ain't gonna lie. But she's got us an' Doc an' Kathy, an' Doc Benson is smart. He'll help us figure somethin' out," he said reassuringly.

Alex stood there in his embrace for a few more minutes before raising her head to look Jake in the eyes. "I'm afraid I can't help her," she said in a whisper.

"It ain't on just you, Al. We're all in this together. We're all responsible fer her. Come on, you'll feel better once you've showered an' slept," Jake said. He began removing her shirt, trying to get her moving into the shower. Alex inhaled sharply when Jake's hands skimmed along her sides as he pulled her shirt up and over her head. Alex tried to lean into him after her shirt was off, but Jake held her at arm's length. "Uh uh, not gonna distract me from gettin' ya cleaned up," he said with a grin. Alex sighed before turning away and pulling the water on to warm up.

"Okay, Mr. Bossypants. I'm getting in the shower. See," she said as she began to unbutton her pants.

"I won't be far, just holler if ya need me," Jake said as he turned to leave the bathroom. It was suddenly very small and warm and he needed to put some space between him and an increasingly naked Alex. She was really making it hard for him to keep his mind on the task at hand, even with all the bad shit that was going on around them.

Jake headed to Sally's room to begin the cleanup. Luckily, she had bled on a rug, so he didn't actually have to clean anything; he just rolled the rug up and removed it from the room, depositing it in the back of his truck with Kara's body.

The shower was still running when he returned upstairs. He cleaned up Sally's room a bit and then he went through and removed all the sharp and dangerous objects he could find. He even made sure to check under her mattress - where he found a couple of pocket knives - and he rifled through her drawers, gathering a total of ten knives from various hiding places around her room. There were probably more that he had missed, they were going to have to do a more thorough search before leaving her in the room alone.

Alex was out of the shower and back in their bedroom dressed by the time he finished in Sally's room. He took all the knives he found and dumped them out on his and Alex's bed.

"Were those all in Sally's room," Alex asked slightly astonished.

"Mmmhmm. Under her bed, in her dresser, desk and closet. I bet there's more, too. Where'd she get 'em all," Jake asked.

"She's probably been collecting them on our runs," Alex said. "I told her she could keep any knives she found… she never showed me any though, so I didn't realize how large her collection had become. We'll have to go back through and make sure we got them all, I guess."

Jake nodded. "Come on. Let's get some food in ya. Betty keeps tellin' me she don't think ya eat enough, so I'm sure she's got a mountain of food waitin' fer ya."

They gathered their things and headed to the barn. Things looked like they usually did two hours after lunch - mellow. A few people were working around the barn, but it was unusually quiet. Zach was over near the trailers digging up the dirt and turning it over in the spot where J.J. had died. She noticed that the spot where Dr. Benson had amputated Sadie's hand was also turned over so no evidence of blood remained.

Alex nodded over to Zach, telling Jake that she was going over there to talk to him. Jake grabbed her arm, though, and prevented her from walking away. "Nope. Not til ya eat somethin'. Get on over ta tha bunkhouse. Zach will still be here when yer done," he said.

Alex put on her best pouty face but followed directions and walked to the bunkhouse. Norma and Betty greeted her with cheery smiles at the door. "Alex! Come on in here, child, you looked starved to death! Have you been eating enough? Your pants are gonna slide right off those narrow hips of yours…" the old women chattered away while one ushered Alex into a seat at the table and the other set a heaping plate down in front of her. Alex would be lucky if she made a dent in the pile of food in front of her. She took a deep breath and dug in.

§

Jake sat outside Tim's trailer, smoking while he waited for Tim and Ellie to emerge. Doc was still at the clinic helping with Sally. Zach wandered over when he finished with the dirt near Kara's trailer. He had a black eye and his nose looked like it had been broken when Kara smashed the trailer door in his face. To his credit, Zach didn't seem fazed; he just went about business as usual, looking for jobs that needed to be done.

"Is Sally going to be okay," Zach asked Jake.

Jake looked at him for a moment before answering. "Hope so. Been through a lot, tha man that took her was a bad one an' really did a number on 'er head. She's tough, though. Might take a while, but I think she's strong enough ta make it through this."

"Well, if you guys need anything, just let me know. I've already told Tim that I'd take on all of Sally's chores, in addition to my own," Zach said.

Jake nodded. "I really 'ppreciate ya bein' so helpful. Makes it easier knowin' we got people we can count on." Jake was quiet for a moment before adding, "And thanks fer takin' care of tha kid fer me… I jus'... it's harder when it's a kid, ya know?"

Zach nodded. "I'm just glad I could help. You and Alex have helped me so much; I don't think I can ever repay you for what you've done for me. Well, I'm off to check on the horses, time to switch pastures, I think," Zach added before giving Jake a final nod and heading off towards the eastern pasture.

Tim finally came out of his trailer, pulling on his shirt. "Damn bandages are a pain in the ass to change," he complained as he stepped out next to Jake. Ellie emerged in the doorway behind him.

"If you weren't such a baby about a few hairs gettin' pulled out takin' the tape off it wouldn't take so long. Woulda thought I was stabbin' ya with 'uh ice pick the way ya were carrying on," Ellie teased. Tim was not amused. Jake laughed at the two of them before getting down to business.

"You two heard 'bout Sally, right," Jake asked as he pulled on the cigarette.

"Zach mentioned that she'd stabbed herself, but I didn't believe it," Ellie said.

"She intentionally pushed a knife 'bout an inch inta her thigh," Jake said. "Ain't talkin' much. Doc Benson said she did some damage to the muscle; said he'd keep her sedated after he fixed her up, prob'ly twenty four hours or so. Went through her room ta pull all tha sharp stuff, found almost a dozen knives hidden all over. Don't think she was gonna kill herself, but she mighta let herself bleed out. Don't seem ta know what's goin' on around her," Jake explained.

"Well, you know we'll do anythin' we can to help her," Tim said and Ellie nodded in agreement.

"Thanks. Tha other thang I wanted ta talk ta ya about is J.J. and Kara. We need ta get them in tha ground sooner than later, an' we also need ta talk ta tha group an' let 'em know what happened. Nip all tha rumours in tha bud," Jake said.

"Where's Kara's body," Tim asked.

"She's in tha back of my truck right now, but I was gonna move her inta tha little smokehouse if we weren't gonna get it done today," Jake said.

"Zach moved J.J. over there after he and the nurse got him cleaned up. Mind leavin' yer truck here? Max and Leon should be back soon from checking the properties to the south for lingering dead along the fences. I'll get them on it, and anyone else that shows up. We can have services for them and Billy tomorrow morning," Tim finished.

"Thanks, Tim. I'm gonna take Alex back to the house and try to get her to rest. I don't think she's slept in over 36 hours. She's stressed 'bout Sally an' blamin' it all on herself, of course. Not really sure how ta help either of 'em, but I know it's gotta start with tha basics - eatin' an' sleepin'," Jake said.

"You just take care of your girls," Ellie said, "we'll handle everythin' else."


	8. Chapter 8 First Down, Fumbled

Jake and Alex finally returned to the main house around 3 p.m. Alex was stuffed to the gills; Norma and Betty didn't let her leave the bunkhouse until she had eaten what seemed like three days' worth of meals. Now that her stomach was full, Alex was starting to get sleepy. She and Jake were sitting on the porch swing and the steady motion was lulling her to sleep. The next thing she knew, she was in bed, it was dark outside and her bedside lamp issued a soft glowing light. Alex rubbed her eyes and looked at the clock - 9 p.m. She couldn't remember coming in the house or getting in bed. But she also felt very rested, like she'd slept for several days. Alex had a moment of panic that it actually HAD been several days and she was just getting out of bed when Jake quietly entered the room.

"Hey there, sleepyhead," Jake said to her as he made his way across the room. "The way ya were snorin' I didn't think ya'd wake up 'til tha mornin'," he said with a grin.

Alex chuckled. "I don't know what you're talking about - I don't snore," she quickly replied.

"Uh huh," he said with a laugh. "How're ya feelin'," he asked as he began to unbutton his shirt.

"Like I slept for days… it hasn't actually been days has it," Alex asked just to make sure.

Jake laughed. "No, it hasn't been days," he said, throwing his shirt at her face. "Gonna take a quick shower before comin' ta bed," he said before leaving to go use the guest bath. Their bathroom was clean but neither of them were ready to go in there yet.

Alex took the shirt and shoved it under her head like a pillow. It smelled like Jake after a long, sweaty day of working on the ranch. Alex snuggled into the bed and thought back to that morning next to the creek. That kiss had been more intense than anything she'd experienced before and all she wanted to do was find out if the next one would be like that too. Just thinking about it was making that desire pool in her belly again and Alex wasn't quite sure what to do about that. She thought back to when Jake broke their kiss, what had he told her? That it wasn't the time or the place? Well, what better time and place than in bed?

Alex took stock of herself - she was in her usual pajamas, so Jake must have changed her before putting her to bed. She quickly slipped out of her pajama top and bottoms, dropping them on the floor next to the bed, leaving her in a thin undershirt and her underwear. Then she waited, listening for the shower to shut off. When it finally did, Alex felt a rush of adrenaline and her stomach wouldn't stop doing flips. She was both excited and nervous and her palms started sweating. Just as she was about to chicken out and put her pajamas back on, she heard Jake walking down the hall.

Alex froze in place, listening. Jake had stopped right outside the door. She took a deep breath, inhaling Jake's scent from his shirt and let it out. She could do this. She _wanted_ to do this. It was Jake. Whatever happened would be fine because it was Jake. The butterflies started in her stomach again as she heard the door handle quietly turn.

She watched as Jake entered the room; he only had his pajama bottoms on and no shirt. "How was your shower," Alex asked him as he climbed into bed with her.

"Good. Wish we could just wash all our problems away with a hot shower," he said. Jake snuggled up to her like he usually did, but when he moved his hand over Alex's hip to wrap his arm around her, she felt him hesitate as he felt bare skin instead of clothing. She held her breath, waiting for his reaction.

"What're ya doin', Al," he said quietly, awkwardly keeping his hand still on her hip.

Alex was hoping his reaction would be a little different, more enthusiastic, maybe. She exhaled and slowly rolled over to face him. She pressed her body into his and wrapped her arm around his waist, holding them together. "Well, you said earlier that it wasn't the time or the place… and I couldn't think of a better place than in bed or a better time than now," she said as she bravely slid her leg over his, carefully repositioning her body so their pelvises were lined up. She gently scraped her fingernails along Jake's side, hoping for a positive reaction.

§

It took Jake a second to realize that his hand was on Alex's bare skin on her waist, not her pajama top. He knew she'd taken it off intentionally - she was wearing it when he'd gone to shower. He remembered the feel of her skin from earlier that afternoon and it was all he could do to keep his fingers still. Then she rolled over to face him and she pulled herself in so close to his body that he could feel her heart pounding in her chest… or maybe that was his. He was having a hard time focusing, she was too close, their bodies so close together they were too hot and Jake's fingers were itching to slide over Alex's smooth skin as they had so briefly earlier that day.

He must have been hearing things, because he thought he just heard Alex say that since they were in bed there was no better time or place. _She's got a point_ , the excited part of his brain said. _Maybe, but she ain't really ready fer that, even if she thinks she is_ , the more rational, less excitable part of his brain retorted. Before he could silence the argument in his head, he felt Alex slide her leg over his and adjust her pelvis until it was almost pressed up against his. He began to push back against her with the hand that was on her hip to create space between them but Alex took his hand and wrapped it around her waist instead, leaving it on the small of her back. Her face was so close he could feel her breath and her usually golden brown eyes were dark with desire. Jake opened his mouth to say something but Alex pressed her lips to his and all thoughts of should or shouldn't slipped out of his brain. He _did_ want this; his body reacted on instinct; Jake pulled Alex closer to him and she let out a soft moan as he deepened the kiss, and with that, they lost themselves in one another.

They kissed and rubbed and explored one another with wandering hands. Eventually, Alex guided Jake's hands to remove her tank top, and Jake had another moment of pause. He knew this wasn't a good move for them, but he listened when the impulsive part of his brain said, " _Go for it! You don't have to go all the way to have fun_." Jake slowly skimmed his fingers up along Alex's sides, taking the shirt along with them, revealing almost all of her body to him. Jake couldn't stop himself from trailing kisses down her jaw and along her collarbone.

As he did so, Alex lightly scraped her fingernails across his back, sending a chill throughout his body and awakening some primal urge deep within him. Jake's mind turned off and his body took over, his hands and mouth exploring Alex's body. Jake thought he knew everything about her, knew every scar and curve and bump, but as he slowly worked his way over her body, he realized that there was a lot he didn't know about her. The way the curve of her hip created the perfect little dip that he just wanted to kiss, how her body responded to every touch, every lick, and every kiss. She had a freckle that he'd never seen before, on her inner thigh, just below her underwear line and a sprinkling of them along her chest and abdomen. Jake kissed each one, slowly making his way down to the one on her thigh.

After kissing the final freckle, Jake paused, overwhelmed by the heady scent of Alex emanating from the apex of her thighs. It was intoxicating. All he wanted to do was bury his face in her and taste her sweetness. As if reading his mind, Alex shifted her hips under him, bringing her sweet center even closer to his lips. She ran her fingers through his hair, giving him chills. Jake slowly closed the distance between his face and her center and inhaled her scent through the thin material that was covering her. Alex moaned at the sensation and tried to pull him closer by his hair, but Jake had other ideas.

He worked his way back up her body until he was even with her face, pulling her in for a long, deep kiss. Alex's body was very responsive and Jake moved his body so he was partially on top of her, their bodies grinding against one another, seeking relief to the pressure that was building inside each of them.

§

When Jake lined their bodies up, Alex's first reaction was to push herself against him, the momentary relief of the pressure that was building up in her groin was short-lived and immediately replaced with an even more urgent desire to find some sort of release. Every part of her skin was on fire and hypersensitive to Jake's touch and Alex continued to grind her pelvis into Jake's seeking that release. When Jake adjusted himself to lay next to her, Alex let out a whine at the loss of contact. Jake moved so one arm was under her neck while the other drew lazy circles on her abdomen and stomach. Alex squirmed at the sensation he was causing; somehow his touch was going right to her groin, adding to the buildup of pressure she felt heavy in the pit of her stomach. It was driving her crazy.

Alex took his hand and slowly guided it down her stomach past her navel to the apex of her thighs. She didn't really know what she was doing, but she knew that she needed him to touch her _there_ , that that was the key to finding some sort of relief. When they reached her underwear, Alex felt Jake's hand hesitate for a brief second before he took control from her and placed his hand so that it cupped her, _there_. He gently applied pressure to her pubic bone with the heel of his large hand and Alex instantly felt a gush of moisture _down there_ and an almost painfully pleasurable feeling began to build. She'd never felt anything like it before and she wasn't really sure what was happening, but she knew she didn't want him to stop.

Jake removed his hand from that position and leaned in to kiss Alex while his hand continued to wander. She froze when she felt Jake's hand move under the thin fabric of her panties. Alex held her breath and Jake broke the kiss, looking into her eyes while his fingers moved to explore her more intimately. Jake held her gaze as he moved, as if he was waiting for her to tell him to stop. She was never going to tell him to stop. She wanted this, wanted him, more than she'd ever wanted anything before.

"Don't stop," she moaned as his fingers did a delicate dance, sending jolts of new sensations up Alex's spine; she was overwhelmed with pleasure.

Jake smiled down at her, clearly enjoying her reactions. His fingers began to move faster and Alex could feel something building up inside of her. At first she thought she was going to be sick and she almost told Jake to stop, but then something happened and suddenly she felt her entire body tense up involuntarily, before exploding in the most amazing feeling that started in her toes and went all the way up to the top of her head. She felt a gush of wet where Jake's hand was and a steady, almost painful throbbing replaced the urgent pressure she'd felt only moments ago. Her leg muscles began to twitch involuntarily and Jake grinned down at her while her wits slowly returned and her eyes came back into focus. He removed his hand from her underwear and Alex instantly felt the loss and she moaned as he adjusted himself next to her.

"What… was… that," she panted out when she was finally able to form a coherent thought. She couldn't take her eyes from his face. He was the best thing in that ever happened to her.

Jake let out a little laugh. "Well, it's been awhile since I seen a woman have one, but I'm pretty sure ya jus' had yer first orgasm." He nuzzled his face into her neck and trailed kisses to her mouth. He spent a good while just kissing her as she came down, but soon that pressure was building back up in her groin and Alex wasn't finished with him just yet. She wanted to make him feel just as good as he made her feel. She wasn't sure how that would work, really, but she knew that she wanted to explore him with her hands too.

Alex slowly dragged one hand down Jake's bare chest not stopping until she reached the waistline of his pajama pants. She scraped her fingernails along his skin there, smiling when she saw him close his eyes and draw in a deep breath. Figuring she was doing something right, Alex bravely pushed on, slipping her hand under his pajamas and into his boxers. Her hand was immediately greeted with his hot and very hard member. Not really knowing what to do, Alex figured she'd just explore, so she ran her palm down him, applying gentle pressure. She could feel him twitching underneath her palm as she ran it back up to the tip. She wrapped her hand around him and squeezed gently, eliciting a moan from Jake. Alex began to move her hand up and down slowly, like she had once heard some girls at school talking about. She hoped she was doing it right.

The covers had fallen away at some point and Alex shifted to get a better grip on him. She started to push his pajama bottoms and boxers down and Jake started to lift his hips like he was going to let her take them off, but he suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled it away from him. Alex thought she did something wrong.

"What? Did I do something wrong," she asked him, hurt clearly evident in her eyes.

Jake just looked at her for a minute before he answered. "Nah, ya didn't do nothin' wrong. Jus' think we better not get too carried away." He released her hand and pulled his pants back into place.

"What do you mean? I'm not getting carried away… I want to keep going," she said, sliding her hand back down into his pants. Jake grabbed her hand and pulled it back, holding it to his chest.

"We don't gotta rush this, okay? We ain't ready fer that, an' you ain't neither. Yer worried 'bout Sally an' we just lost Billy. Yer jus' lookin' ta feel good, an' I get it, but I don' think this is gonna help thangs," Jake said. Alex ripped her hand away and scooted away from him. "Come on, Al, don't be like that," he said, reaching for her shoulder. She jerked away from his touch and got out of bed, picking up her shirt and discarded pajamas.

"Alex, don't do this, please don't leave," he begged. When she still wouldn't turn and look at him, he added, "I knew this was a bad idea," under his breath.

"If you knew this was such a bad idea then what the fuck did you do it for? I'm so sorry I forced you to do something so horrible!" she yelled at him as she ran out the door and slammed it behind her.

Alex ran down the stairs, not caring about being mostly naked until she was outside on the porch, where it was much colder than inside. She quickly threw her clothes on and grabbed a cigarette from the pack sitting next to the porch swing. Alex sat on the swing and smoked running back over everything that had just happened.

Jake had rejected her. She had put herself out there and he didn't want her. She didn't understand what happened. Everything was great and then it wasn't. He was telling her no and pushing her away. It had to be something wrong with her. Maybe he didn't want her because she didn't know what she was doing. But he'd always known that, he knew she didn't have any sexual experience at all.

Alex rolled it all over and over in her mind, not coming up with any answers, just more questions. She was humiliated and angry. Of all the things that had happened to her in the last few months, this was the thing that hurt the most. More than losing her parents, more than Sally getting hurt, because it was Jake and he was never supposed to make her feel like she felt right now - unwanted and alone.

§

Jake had no idea what had just happened. He'd been caught up in the excitement of exploring Alex's body for the first time, enjoying watching her as she experienced sexual pleasure for the first time. He wanted to make her feel good; she deserved to feel good. He was enjoying himself immensely until Alex had turned it around and began exploring his body. But it felt so good he didn't want to stop her. Then she had tried to remove his pants and his brain finally kicked in, telling him to put the brakes on. They weren't ready for this and she really wasn't in a mental state to make such a big decision right now. He had to be the one to stop them or he'd regret it forever.

But things had gone wrong. He thought he was explaining himself clearly, but she didn't seem to understand that it was for her own good. She just yelled at him and left. Jake laid there for a long time, trying to figure out where he'd gone wrong. He kept coming back to the start. When he discovered she'd taken her clothes off in bed, he should have stopped it right then. But things had been so good between them for so long and their kiss that morning had definitely awoken something in him. And, to be honest, he was just so damn happy to have her back that he was enjoying the time together.

After another hour he still hadn't figured out how things went so wrong and Alex still hadn't come back to bed. _She prob'ly won't_ , he thought morosely. Alex was pissed and when Alex was pissed, she ran. He hated that he'd hurt her, that was exactly what he was trying to avoid in the first place. He needed a cigarette. Jake threw a shirt on and made his way downstairs. It had been a couple of hours since Alex had run out; Jake figured she'd found somewhere to hide out for the rest of the night, away from him. He hated himself so much right now. This was one of the things he'd worried about before they even got together. Alex was so young and so lacking in experience that she probably didn't understand why he'd stopped her. He thought he was doing the right thing, but all he'd done was ruin everything.

He paused at the sliding glass door; he saw the orange glow of a cigarette coming from the porch swing. Well, at least he knew where she was. Jake briefly considered turning around and going back to bed without a cigarette, but he wasn't a coward. He was going to face Alex and try to fix things. He took a deep breath and slid the door open, stepping out into the brisk night.

Alex didn't look up when he came outside, when he said her name or when he sat down next to her on the swing. She just kept her face turned away from him, occasionally bringing the cigarette to her lips for a drag before letting her hand drop back to the armrest. Jake took a cigarette from the pack and lit it, waiting for Alex to acknowledge his existence. When he'd finished the cigarette and she still hadn't even looked at him, Jake had had enough.

"So ya just gonna ignore me then, cuz we had a disagreement," he asked the back of her head. Nothing. "Seriously, Alex, ya gotta talk ta me," he said, this time reaching out for her shoulder. When he touched her, he felt her tense up at his touch, but she didn't pull away, which was at least something. She still wouldn't answer him though. Jake got up from the swing and walked in front of Alex, kneeling down to be at eye level. He could see why she wasn't turning around - she was sitting there silently crying. Her eyes were puffy and even in the moonlight he could tell that her cheeks were wet with tears.

"I'm so sorry, Al, I didn't mean ta hurt ya," he said as he raised his hand to her face to wipe away a tear that was glistening in the moonlight. Alex pulled away before he could touch her. "I shoulda stopped us before anythin' happened. I knew better but I couldn't help myself either, I jus'-"

Alex cut him off by abruptly standing. She threw her cigarette in the ashtray and turned to go inside, but Jake moved to block her way. "That's it, yer jus' gonna walk away from me an' not say nothin'," Jake asked her, his temper now starting to rise. This was stupid. They should be in bed together sleeping, not fighting about sex.

Alex refused to meet his eye and she remained silent. "Ya know yer actin' like a little kid that don't get their way. Thought ya were old 'nough ta handle our relationship. That's what'cha told me, tha' ya weren't jus' some kid. Tha way yer actin' right now proves that I was right all along. That was a mistake. I never shoulda let thangs-."

"What? Never shoulda let things what, Jake," she yelled at him, cutting him off and shattering the quiet of the night. "Never shoulda let things go so far with a kid? Never shoulda stuck your fingers in my pussy, cuz I'm a kid? You know, this isn't all on me! We weren't messing around just cuz I wanted to. But apparently you knew better and I'm the stupid one here. Just some stupid fucking kid," she spat at him. Alex pushed him out of her way and threw the glass door open, not bothering to close it behind her.

Jake stood there dumbfounded. With just a few words she'd managed to give voice to the biggest fears that he'd ever had about their relationship - that she was too young and that he was old and dirty for even thinking about her like that. He briefly considered going after her, but as angry as she was now it was possible that she just might do something that they would both regret, and he figured it was best to let her cool off for now. So he sat back down on the porch swing and chain smoked until the pack was gone. It was almost 4 a.m. Jake was exhausted, but not necessarily tired. All he'd wanted for the last two days was to have Alex back home with him, like things had been all winter - happy, comfortable and easy. He just wanted to cuddle up with her in bed - he got the best sleep when she was by his side and he could feel her there, warm and safe. Now she was back, but he was still alone.

He was an idiot. He shouldn't have let himself get carried away like that. He knew she wasn't ready for anything sexual, but he couldn't stop himself. _If she was older an' more experienced would ya have stopped,_ his rational brain asked. Jake thought about it for a minute. The main reason it was important for him to stop them from having sex was because she'd never had sex before. It was important to him that it be special for her, not something that happened out of a reaction to grief. Maybe she wouldn't regret it, even if they did do it now. But Jake couldn't help but feel that he was right to stop them from going further. Jake knew himself well enough to know that if she'd succeeded in taking his pants off, they would have gone all the way, consequences be damned. He wanted her; oh boy did he want her. But he wanted her forever, he didn't want to lose her to her demons and he was afraid that might happen if they went through with it before she was ready.

Jake shook his head to try to clear it of all these thoughts. Maybe he was overthinking things. Maybe Alex was capable of making that decision for herself, and maybe she really was ready. _Maybe it's you that ain't ready_ , his rational brain offered. Jake let that thought bounce around in his head for a bit. Was he ready for a sexual relationship with Alex? Jake had never really been one to seek out sex - if he had it, it was usually because the opportunity offered itself to him, like Kara. He never went out looking for someone to fuck when they weren't together and he never went after her trying to get her back. All of Jake's "relationships", if you could call them that, had been so-so. He had never been in love with any of the girls that he spent time with, never was heartbroken when things ended, life just went on.

But he loved Alex - more than anything, more than anyone, even himself, even if he'd never said it to her. He would do anything for her. And the thought that Alex and he were done, the idea that she wouldn't want to be with him anymore terrified him more than anything. Once they'd decided to be together in their new capacity, Jake had never considered that there might come a time that they would go their separate ways; once he'd made his mind up that he was all in, he had thought of them as being together forever, or at least for as long as they could survive the living dead.

Would she really end things with him over this? He had no idea what was going on in her head. He didn't expect her to react like she had, that's for sure. He never realized how problematic her age and inexperience could be. She was Alex and they had always talked about everything. He'd never really noticed how young she really was because since she was about fifteen, she acted pretty much like any adult he knew, minus the drinking and smoking. She'd always understood what he was trying to say; at least she had until the world took a shit.

When he couldn't stand sitting anymore, Jake began pacing across the porch, trying to figure out how to fix things, but he kept coming back to the fact that he wasn't really even sure what HAD happened. She was angry he'd told her they needed to stop, but he wasn't really sure WHY that has upset her so much, other than she never really did like being told what to do. But that seemed rather petty, and he didn't think that was really the reason. When he finally accepted that he wasn't getting anywhere, just running his mind in circles, he quietly went inside and made his way up the stairs. It had been a while since Alex had stormed inside and he hoped that she'd had enough time to cool down.

He entered their bedroom and was disappointed to see that Alex wasn't there and the room was just as he'd left it hours ago. He had a moment of panic, thinking she took off out the back door, but he forced himself to take a deep breath and calm down. He checked her parent's bedroom first. She had essentially avoided that room since the beginning, only going in there if she absolutely needed to get something. As he expected, she wasn't there. He checked his old room, also not surprised to find that she wasn't there either. When he went to open Sally's door, he found it locked, and while it pissed him off that she had locked the door - it wasn't like there was anyone else to keep out other than him - he was glad to know where she was. He considered knocking, but the message she sent with the locked door was loud and clear and he figured it was best to just leave her alone. Jake slowly walked back to their room, closed the door and crawled into bed to spend yet another restless night alone.

§

Alex had stormed up the stairs and straight to Sally's room, closing the door and locking it behind her. She felt like everything was spinning out of control. She threw herself on Sally's bed and the tears started flowing. She sobbed for hours into Sally's pillow, crying about Jake, about what happened to Sally, about Billy's death and about everything else she'd had to endure since the end of the world - her parent's deaths, the people she'd had to kill, friends and family she'd put down. Once the tears started there was no stopping them. She cried until she couldn't cry anymore.

When Alex finally raised her head from Sally's tear-soaked pillow the grey pre-dawn light was beginning to show out the window. She was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. Her body physically hurt as well. She thought about getting up and going to see Sally, but it was still really early and she probably wouldn't even be awake until this evening. And she couldn't even begin to think about Jake right now. She rolled over, flipped the pillow over to the cool, dry side and eventually fell asleep.

She woke with a start, unable to figure out where she was at first. As her eyes adjusted to the bright light filling the room she recognized her surroundings and everything from the previous night came flooding back to her. She rolled over; trying to figure out what woke her up as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She didn't hear anything unusual though. Alex's eyes wandered over to the clock on Sally's dresser - 3:41 p.m.!

 _Shit,_ she thought to herself, _Sally's probably up already and wondering why I'm not there. Why didn't someone wake me up like they said they would,_ she thought angrily as she pulled herself out of bed. She was going to have to go to her and Jake's room to get dressed since there wasn't anything that fit her in here. Alex hoped that Jake wasn't still in there. She wasn't sure what she was going to say to him and she wasn't even really sure how she felt about everything that had transpired between them.

As she reached to open the door, she looked down and noticed a piece of paper had been partially slid under the door. She then remembered that she had locked the door when she came in the room, locking herself in and Jake out. A wave of guilt washed over her as she bent down to retrieve the note. Her stomach dropped to the floor as she recognized Jake's scrawl on the white stationery that she kept on her desk. She was almost afraid to read it, afraid that Jake was done with her because of last night. With shaky hands, Alex unfolded the paper and read:

Al,

I'm sorry about last night. I don't know how to fix things with ya cuz I'm not really sure why ya got so upset. I didn't say never, I said not yet. I just worry about ya with everything that's happened in the last few days. You are everything to me and I just want ya to be happy. I didn't mean to hurt ya. Please don't be mad. I miss you.

\- Your Jake

Alex didn't think she had any tears left in her after last night, but when she read how he signed his name "Your Jake" she couldn't control the tears that snuck up on her. She re-read the note three times before she opened the door to go to her room and get dressed. Jake wasn't there, but she hadn't really expected him to be after she found the note. He was probably out working and keeping the ranch running while she cried like a baby and slept all day. Maybe she really was nothing more than a spoiled kid who couldn't handle the grown up life like she thought.

Alex grabbed clothes and showered, this time in her own shower. She felt a little better once the hot water relaxed her muscles a bit. She got dressed, geared up and looked for something to eat in the kitchen, but they no longer kept much around. She, Jake and Sally usually took their meals with everyone else at the bunkhouse. She grabbed some crackers and then decided she couldn't procrastinate any longer and she made her way outside to deal with what was left of the day.

She decided to go by the clinic first to check on Sally. She could wait to eat a while longer; she'd gotten enough calories yesterday to last her a week. When Alex opened the door to the clinic, the nursing-student-turned-nurse greeted her with a smile that was too big for Alex's liking.

"Hi, Alex," she chirped at her. "Jake was just here checking on her, things haven't changed in fifteen minutes," she said with that smile still plastered to her face.

"Oh, okay, um," Alex paused, not remembering the girl's name.

"Cindy, my name's Cindy," she offered cheerily.

"Cindy, thanks. I'm terrible with names," Alex told her. Now to wrap up this uncomfortable conversation and find out about Sally. "I haven't seen Jake all day. Is Sally still asleep? I promised her I'd come back to see her."

Cindy nodded. "Yes, she's still asleep. Dr. Benson decided he liked how she was regaining color even though she's asleep and only getting nutrition through an IV. He said it's a good sign and he wants to give her body a little more time to heal without "mental distraction" as he called it," she finished, still smiling. The smile was starting to annoy Alex.

"Can I sit with her for a while," Alex asked.

"Sure. Just make sure to keep your voice calm and soothing. She needs positivity and encouragement right now," Cindy said as she led Alex to Sally's room. Alex stood in the doorway and stared at Sally's sleeping form. She looked so small in the sterile hospital bed.

"Can I lay with her and tell her a story or something," Alex asked as she cautiously approached the hospital bed.

"Of course. Here, let me help you get settled in," Cindy cheerily offered. She moved the IV stand and helped Alex maneuver around all the tubes, making sure she didn't sit on one. She brought Alex another pillow and helped her get comfortable before she left them and closed the door behind her.

The late afternoon spring sun poured through the window and Alex watched as dust particles hung suspended in the rays while she stroked Sally's hair with one hand, her other tucked other the pillow Nurse Ratched brought her.

"Hey Sal. Sorry it took me so long to come back and see you… I was sleeping too. You just rest easy, darlin'. The doctor says you're doing really well so you just keep working hard to get better. You're such a tough girl and I want you to know how proud I am of you for fighting so hard," Alex said quietly, forcing herself to keep her tears in check and keep her voice even. After a few moments, Alex added in a whisper, "Thank you."

She spent the next hour humming old songs to Sally quietly while stroking her hair. Alex didn't talk anymore; she had considered telling the girl a story but the only things she could think of were fairytales and those weren't soothing, they were scary if you really thought about them. Alex wasn't about to tell a sedated Sally stories about women that were locked in towers, forced into slavery, taken captive, poisoned and almost killed. That wouldn't be helpful at all. And Alex couldn't think of anything positive to say at the moment, so she hummed until Dr. Benson came in to check on Sally.

"That's good for her, human touch," Dr. Benson said as he crossed the room to the other side of the bed. He lifted the blankets to check on her feet (Alex wasn't sure why) before he started taking her vitals. "Humming is good too. Studies have shown that music is good for brain development, maybe it will help hers heal," he said. "It's time to let her rest now. I'm going to check her wounds, make sure there's no sign of infection," he said as he came around the bed to help Alex up.

Alex carefully got out of the bed with Dr. Benson's assistance and walked with him out of the room. When he closed the door, Alex turned to ask him her questions.

"You said human touch is good for her." The doctor nodded. "But the man... he touched her and… well, I don't know how _much_ he touched her -" Dr. Benson held up his hand to stop her.

"Doc Hobbs and I discussed that when she was first brought in. We didn't see anything to indicate he actually _did_ anything sexual to her, other than biting her lip. But then after she came back with a pretty bad self-inflicted wound, Doc and I did a more thorough check while she was sedated. She definitely was not violated in that manner. Whatever he was doing to her had a much more sinister intent, I think," Dr. Benson explained.

Alex was relieved to know that at least that fucker hadn't taken _that_ from her. He took plenty enough.

"How much longer will you keep her sedated," Alex asked next.

"If everything continues as is, I'll bring her out of it sometime tomorrow, probably around this time. She needs to get back to eating real food and moving around. She'll heal faster, mentally, if she isn't lying in bed all day thinking about it. Of course, that leg is gonna require at least ten days of no weight bearing," Dr. Benson told her.

Alex nodded. "I'm sure we can come up with something to get her outside. Can she sit on a horse, maybe a very slow easy ride? No weight bearing, if I can get a set of steps and someone to lift her on and off the horse, that is," Alex said, a smile finally creeping across her lips.

The doctor smiled at her. "I like the way you think, Alex. I think a gentle horse ride, nothing strenuous or difficult, should be okay. That young man Zach was here earlier, visiting her, telling her about the horses. He told me she usually takes care of them."

"Yes, she's wonderful with them. I think they like her more than they like me, and I've been around them my whole life. I'll see what I can do about setting up something so she can ride in a couple of days. I'll be back this time tomorrow to check on her, if not sooner," Alex said. She shook the doctor's hand, said goodbye to Nurse Cindy and left the clinic.

As she stood outside the door and tried to decide what to do next, her loudly rumbling stomach made the decision for her. She needed to eat something. She directed her steps towards the bunkhouse; maybe it was still early enough that there wouldn't be a whole lot of people there for dinner yet. She wasn't up for sitting with the whole group for a meal. People probably had questions and she wasn't up to answering them. She had her own questions she needed to answer first.

When she came over the hill she saw that the barn was in its usual state of end-of-the-day chaos. Alex quickly detoured to avoid the barn and all the people there, heading straight for the bunkhouse. She was disappointed when she came around the bend and saw a number of the camp's residents already sitting at the picnic tables eating. She avoided looking through the tables for Jake and hurried into Norma and Betty's kitchen.

The place was busy but somehow Betty knew that second she came in the door because she'd taken about three steps inside when Betty called her over to the counter where she was piling food on plates. Alex barely had time to say thank you before the old woman was shooing her off to Norma at the dessert table. Norma gave her a giant piece of blackberry cobbler (from their frozen stores from last summer) and sent her on her way. Alex stopped just short of the door and turned, quickly heading for the back door instead. She was just going to head back to the house and eat alone. She wasn't ready to face anyone just yet.

Her exit was in sight when suddenly Zach popped out from a door just ahead of her and to the right, stopping her egress.

"Hey Alex! How are you… hungry I see," he joked when he saw all the food piled on her plate. "Here, let me help you with that," he said, lifting the plates from her hands. "Come on, we're all sitting at the same table." And with that, Zach took off with her food. She briefly considered just going back to the house and scrounging some more crackers, but she figured it would cause more questions if Zach showed up with her food but without her. She sighed and followed after him, into the sea of stares and audible whispers.

Zach set her plates down next to Jake. "Look who I found! Looked like Betty and Norma were trying to sink her under plates of food. It was only gentlemanly of me to rescue her," Zach joked. He sat down across from Jake, next to Ellie. Tim was on her other side, Doc sat across from him, on Jake's other side. Alex flashed everyone her best everything-is-normal smile and hurriedly took the seat next to Jake. She did her best to avoid touching him without looking like she was avoiding touching him. Jake, however, had other ideas.

As soon as she settled into her seat, Jake put his arm around her and pulled her in, kissing her on the temple, just like he always did when she sat down next to him at meals. She stared at him for a long moment before she caught herself and shifted her gaze to the plate on the table in front of her. She forced her hand to pick up her fork and bring food to her face while she tried to process everything again, all without looking like she was trying to do advanced calculus in her head.

They'd had a fight… well, _she'd_ had a fight. She'd been angry and yelled and stormed out and locked herself in a bedroom… and Jake hadn't done anything other than tell her that it wasn't the right time for them to take that step and then called her on it when she started acting like a petulant child. Her mouth was suddenly dry and her food was like chalk. She forced herself to finish chewing and managed to swallow before excusing herself from the table.

Alex hurried inside to the bathroom Zach had exited not long ago. She closed the door behind her and went to the sink, turning on the faucet and cupping her hands under it to drink from them. She finally felt her thirst slacken and she turned the faucet off, wiped her hands on her pants and leaned her forehead against the cool glass of the mirror. She took a few breaths and tried to relax - her heart was racing and she could hear it beating loudly in her ears. As she focused on her breath, she heard a quiet knock on the door.

"Just a sec," she called as she changed positions and pressed her cheek to another cool spot on the mirror. She really just wanted to hide in here for a while longer. Maybe she could just sneak out the back when she left the bathroom.

There was another soft knock and then the handle began to turn. Alex hadn't locked it behind her. Jake's face peeked through the crack as he cautiously opened the door.

"You okay," he asked as he stepped inside and locked the door behind him.

"How did you know I wasn't peeing or something when you just opened the door," she asked.

"Ya looked like you were gonna be sick when ya jumped up from tha table. Figured if it was unlocked ya weren't peein'," he answered. "Ya didn't answer me. Are ya okay? Feelin' sick," he asked, moving to get a better look at her.

Alex shook her head. "I'm fine. I think I just waited too long to eat," she lied.

Jake put his hand to her forehead, checking her for a fever. He then cupped her face with the palm of his hand and kissed her forehead. "You don't have to lie to me," he said, smiling at her. "What's really going on in that pretty little head of yours," he asked. Jake sat on the toilet and tugged on Alex's hand, bringing her to sit on his lap. "Ya still mad at me fer last night," he asked her, not looking away from her eyes.

Alex took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then she shook her head. "No, I'm not mad at you, I'm just…I don't know what I am, I haven't really had a chance to think about anything yet. Can we talk about this later? I'm tired and hungry and I don't really want to have this conversation in the bathroom," she said.

Jake nodded his head. "Okay." He nudged her to get up and then he led them out of the bathroom. He took her hand as he led her back to their table.

"Al's not feelin' very good, so I'm gonna take her back ta tha house. I'll be back in a bit, Tim, then we can finish planning for tomorrow," Jake said. Tim nodded his head in understanding and everyone said bye to Alex and said they hoped she felt better soon.

Jake gathered her plates and carried them to the house while Alex followed a few steps behind him. When they reached the house, he set the plates on the table and pulled out a chair for Alex to sit in. Then he went and got her a glass of water and sat down with her at the table. He didn't say anything, just sat there, alternating between watching her eat and staring out the window at the mountain. When Alex had eaten her fill, Jake took the plates to the kitchen and returned to the table. When he sat down, he saw that Alex had spread the note that he had left her that morning spread out on the table in front of her.

"I'm sorry about last night," she said as she stared down at the paper. "I know that you didn't mean to hurt me. I just really wanted to be close to you, _I needed_ to be close to you. I didn't understand what you were saying, all I heard was that you were saying no, and I really thought you were pushing ME away," Alex said. She could feel tears welling up and she did her best to force them away, with little success. Tears dripped down her cheeks unbidden as she tried to continue on. "I thought you would _want_ to be that close to me."


	9. Chapter 9 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

13

As Jake sat there listening to Alex explain what she'd been thinking last night, he was upset to think that Alex had thought he was rejecting _her_ , that he was pushing _her_ away. He moved his chair and turned Alex in her chair so she fit between his legs, facing him. He took her face in his hands and brought her eyes to his.

"I want ya ta listen ta what I'm sayin', okay? No interruptions, jus' listenin'," he said. She nodded. "I don't ever want ya ta think that I don't want ta be with ya or be near ya," he said, swiping his thumb at the tears that were rolling down her cheeks. "I love ya, an' I ain't goin' nowhere," he said simply, looking in her eyes.

Alex continued to look him in the eyes, but she didn't say anything and Jake couldn't tell what she was thinking from the look on her face. His stomach suddenly clenched and he was incredibly nervous. He let his hands drop from her cheeks. _Maybe she's realized that yer too old fer her,_ his irrational brain panicked. He tried to tamp down his nerves, but Alex really wasn't giving him anything to go on.

"I can't lose ya, Alex," he said, looking down at his boots. "If ya really are ready fer that, we can, I guess. I just didn't want ya ta think that ya had to." He let the sentence hang in the air while he took the risk of looking back at Alex's face. She still wasn't smiling. "I mean, if ya still wanna be with me an' all." His confidence was rapidly draining away and he sat up, leaning back out of Alex's space.

"Don't ya have anythin' ta say," he finally asked her. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear it, but he needed to know if that was the case.

Alex smiled a mischievous smile at him. "I was just waiting for you to finish talking. You said not to interrupt."

Jake exhaled in relief. "Ya coulda said somethin', woman. I thought fer sure ya were gonna tell me yer done with me."

Alex took his hand in hers. "I'm never gonna be done with ya," she said with a smile. "I love you too, Jake. Besides, how can I be done with something that hasn't really even started yet?"

"I suppose ya gotta point. I jus' worry that tha time's wrong… there's always somethin' goin' wrong, somethin' ta fix or find. Not much time fer us ta spend focusin' on us," Jake said.

"That's just it, that's what life is now. Survival. Going from one crisis to the next and figuring out how to get by. I want more than that, Jake. I want to live while I'm still fucking able. Someday I'll end up just like them and -" Jake cut her off.

"Stop. Don't say that. Yer not gonna be one of them. I won't let that happen ta ya. I promise," he said, taking her hands in his. He softly kissed each one.

Alex smiled. "I promise I won't let that happen to you either," she said, squeezing his hands.

"I can promise ya somethin' else to," Jake said seriously. "I promise ya, I will do anythin' an' everythin' ta keep ya safe an' happy." He looked into her eyes with such intensity that Alex was certain he could read her thoughts. "'Til there ain't a breath in my lungs, I promise I'll take care of ya." He leaned in and kissed her long and softly. When they finally broke the kiss, each left breathless from it, Jake pulled Alex into his lap. "Will ya let me do that, Alex," he asked her.

Alex gave him a huge smile. "Of course. What about you? Will you let me keep you safe and happy and let me take care of you? Cuz I can't do any of this without you," she said quietly.

Jake shook his head. "Sure ya can. Yer tough. Ya don't need me."

"I may be tough, but I don't _want_ ta do this without ya. So stop stalling, Dixon. Will ya let me do those things for you too? 'Til there's no breath left in my body," she asked him.

"Now how can I resist when ya asked so nicely," he teased.

Alex jabbed him in the ribs. "I'm serious, Jake! Don't make jokes. You just made those promises to me, why is it funny that I'd want to do the same for you," she pouted.

"I'm sorry," Jake said. "Yer right, it's not funny. I meant every word I said an' I know ya do to. Yes, Al, I'll let'cha do tha same fer me," he said, smiling down at her.

Alex's face erupted into a huge smile, like she'd won some sort of contest. She wrapped her arms around Jake's neck and gave him a quick kiss.

"What's with tha grin? Ya look like ya jus' won tha lottery or somethin'," he teased her.

Alex just continued to smile at him. "I did. I just won whatever life I have left with you," she said as she curled into his chest. Jake wrapped his arms around her and held her snugly.

"Been thinkin' 'bout somethin' though," Jake said into her hair.

"Hmm… what's that," Alex asked.

"Well, ya know how we've talked before 'bout how tha old laws don't apply an' thangs are different than before - we don't have judges or laws or police ta enforce anythin'," he said.

"Yeah, things have changed and we have to change with it," she replied.

"Right. Like you an' me. Before this wouldn'ta been okay, but now that life's so short, age isn't as important as it used ta be. We gotta embrace tha time we got, like ya said," Jake said.

Alex smiled and started to move in for a kiss, but Jake stopped her.

"Not _just_ that way," he said with a smile. "Ya know what we jus' did, right? What we said ta each other?"

"Alex looked at him slightly puzzled. "Yeah, of course I know what we said," she replied.

"Not just _what_ we said, but tha' meanin'," Jake pushed her.

"Yeah, we promised ta take care of each other and protect each other and make each other happy until…" her voice drifted off as she finally realized what Jake was saying. "...death do us part… those are wedding vows," she said as a look of understanding spread across her face.

Jake nodded. "Um hmm… vows. Between you an' me. I meant every word, Alex."

"I did too," she said without hesitation. She gripped his hands harder.

"Ya sure? What if we end up makin' it through this an' I live ta be old an' wrinkled - ya know, like 50-ish," he teased. "It ain't too late ta take it back - we ain't kissed on it yet," he said with a grin.

"Wrinkles? It's not the wrinkles I worry about, it's the old man ear hairs. When _that_ happens I might have to bail," she said with an equally large grin.

"Ear hair, huh? Well, I'll make sure ta keep that in mind. Ya sure ya ain't got any other concerns," he asked her.

Alex shook her head. "Nope. I've got nothin'," she said easily. She leaned into him, expecting him to kiss her to seal the deal.

Jake wasn't quite finished talking yet. "An' jus' cuz we're makin' this official, at least ta us, it don't mean thangs gotta change or speed up. Slow is still fine by me," he told her.

"Okay, but not _too_ slow… last night was _amazing_ ," she said, blushing.

"Yeah, it started out pretty good," Jake agreed. "Let's not have any more endings like that though, okay? Ya gotta talk ta me, an' ya can't lock me out or hide from me or run away. Ya gotta stay an' talk… be mad all ya want, but let me know _why_. I can't fulfil my promises to ya if ya don't talk ta me," he told her.

"I'm really so sorry about that… I felt terrible when I woke up and saw your note and realized what I'd done. I won't do it again, and I'll talk, even when I'm mad. I promise to try really, really hard," she said, grinning at him.

"That's good enough fer me," Jake said, smiling back at her.

Alex took her arms and wrapped them around Jake's neck. "So… now we're married," she asked, letting out a very un-Alex-like giggle.

"Well, it's enough fer me, if that's what ya wanna call it… ain't like we can go ta tha courthouse an' get hitched. Do ya need somethin' more? I mean, we still gotta kiss, ta make it official, but if ya want somethin' more I'll figure out how ta make it happen," Jake said, seriously.

Alex let out a little laugh and leaned in to Jake, kissing him deeply to make it official. "No, I don't need anything else. I was just thinking that there's nothing stopping me from bein' Alex Dixon anymore."

Jake laughed. "Nope, there sure ain't."

"You know, I think we've skipped a few steps on the relationship flowchart," Alex said as she nuzzled her face into Jake's neck. "You've never even taken me on a date and now we're married," she said excitedly.

"Well, unless ya know of a restaurant I can take ya too, I ain't quite sure how ta fix that," Jake replied.

"Good thing for you I'm not all that interested in dating… how about we skip a few more steps and head upstairs," she whispered into his ear, wiggling her bottom provocatively on his lap.

Jake trailed kisses down Alex's neck and to her mouth before he replied. "Still early… told Tim I'd be back ta discuss tomorrow. An' I was gonna go check on Sal one more time. Did ya see her yet?"

"Yeah, I went over right after I woke up. I just laid with her for a while and hummed songs to her while I stroked her hair. Talked to Dr. Benson. He said he won't wake he until tomorrow afternoon," Alex replied.

"That's what he said to me too. I kinda think it's best fer her ta sleep as long as she can. Don't need ta be rememberin' all that shit," Jake said, pulling Alex tight to him.

"Once she's awake, she won't ever forget it… I'll come check on Sally with you and then poke around the barn while you guys plan, if ya don't mind my company," she said sweetly.

"Ya sure yer up ta it," Jake asked. "I can stay."

"No, you don't have to do that. I'm feelin' much better. Honest. I was just sick over everything that happened and I didn't know how to fix it. I'm full, we're better, come on, let's go," Alex said, rising from Jake's lap and taking his hands in hers.

§

Sally was still asleep and Dr. Benson told them the same thing as earlier that afternoon. They didn't disturb her, just peeked in the door to look at her. She _was_ regaining color. Alex hoped her head was healing as well.

They walked to the barn hand in hand, smiles glued to their faces. They found Tim, Ellie and Doc gathered around a large map laid out across an architect's table. They were marking various spots and making notations on the map.

"Oh good, you're both here," Tim said as he looked up from the map. "The perimeter team just called in a sighting. Northwest of where you just were," he said to Alex, "but not nearly as far. They're right in our backyard."

"How many," Jake asked.

"Zach said he saw three for sure, moving pretty slow and steady. Said they're heading almost straight for us," Tim added.

"Three won't be a problem," Alex said. "When's the next report due back?"

"Zach and James are in that area, they moved to a better observation point that should keep them out of the line of travel. Should be hearin' back from them any time now, then we can make a plan," Tim said.

"Well, I guess we wait then,"Jake said. He circled his arm around Alex's waist while they stood and waited to hear from Zach.

"You feelin' better, Alex? Your color looks better," Ellie asked.

"Thanks, El. I am feeling better. I guess I just ran myself into the ground out there. It all kinda caught up to me at once," Alex said.

Their attention was diverted to the static of the radio before Zach's voice called out.

"Tim, ya there? Over," Zach called over the radio. Everyone stared at the device in Tim's hand.

"Go ahead, Zach," Tim said.

"Group is definitely smaller than ten. We counted eight heads for sure, one of them was being carried by two others and they didn't have much in the way of supplies with them. Looks like they've been on the road for a while. They're holed up in a barn on one of the places we cleared before. Not sure if they're waitin' for night, or for more people to catch up with them or what. What do you want us to do? Over," Zach explained.

"Nothin' for now, just keep watching. Let me know if anything changes, more show up, someone leaves, whatever. I'm sending a team out to you. It'll be dark soon and we don't want them to get by us in the dark. We observe tonight and approach in the mornin', unless things go wrong, in which case we kill them first and don't bother askin' questions later. Over," Tim said.

"Um, okay. We'll keep our eyes open," Zach replied.

"I can lead the team. I know that area really well," Alex volunteered.

"You sure you're up to it," Ellie asked. "You weren't looking so good earlier. Someone else can go, Alex."

"Someone else _can_ go, but I _am_ going. No more arguments. I want to see these guys for myself, make sure they're nothing like that fuckin' group Sally and I came across," Alex said with finality.

"Sounds good to me. Pick your team. Take at least ten, twelve would be better. Gonna need to roll out ASAP. Zach and James have night scopes, so they can keep an eye on things until you get there," Tim said.

Alex picked her team, telling everyone they had ten minutes to gear up and be at the barn. She and Jake hurried back to the house to gather her gear.

"Ya don't gotta go. Ellies' right, someone else can do this, Al. We know how ta spot tha bad ones," Jake offered.

"I gotta do this, Jake. Gotta see with my own eyes. Please don't make a big deal outta this," she asked him as she gathered her things.

Jake came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his head on her shoulder. "Alright, I ain't makin' a big deal. I was just lookin' forward ta gettin' a good night's sleep with ya back by my side… but it ain't like any of us will be sleepin' tonight anyway. We'll be here getting defenses ready," Jake said.

"I'll be back before long," Alex said as she turned in Jake's arms to face him. "I want to get this taken care of and be back before Sally wakes up," she said as she leaned in and kissed him. "And _then_ we can skip those steps we were talkin' about an' see if we can get ya that good night's sleep," Alex joked.

They met up with Alex's team at the barn and they quickly took off to try to make it to Zach and James before dark fully fell. It took them about forty minutes at a good fast pace to make it to the look outs.

"Any changes," Alex asked Zach as they got to the observation point.

"Nothing. They're still in there and I haven't seen any other movement in the area. I think it's just them," Zach said.

"Alright," Alex said. "It'll be fully dark soon. Moon's not gonna rise until late but we should still have enough time to get into position." Alex pointed out to each person where she wanted them stationed, then they moved out.

"Where do you want me and James," Zach asked before they took off.

"You guys stay up here and keep an eye out on things. You see anything you radio and let us know. Unless you can deal with it from here, in which case, you have my permission to take care of it," Alex said.

They watched for most of the night before there was any sign of movement. Alex had taken the position closest to the barn door and she'd been staring at it for hours, looking for the slightest hint of movement. Around three a.m. the hinges suddenly creaked and the door opened just a crack. After a moment, a sturdily built man slipped out of the door and closed it quietly behind him.

Alex could see that he was carrying standard issue military weapons and he looked to be wearing fatigues, though she couldn't be certain in the moonlight. _Is he military or did he just steal that stuff off a dead guy,_ she asked herself as she watched him move stealthily through the shadows. As she watched, she realized that he moved like a soldier too. Were they dealing with a small group of military men? That was disconcerting. They definitely needed to figure out who they were dealing with before they knew they were being watched. The man headed behind the barn, into the trees. Alex assumed he was going to relieve himself. It was as good a chance as they were going to get to grab someone.

She signaled to the group that they were to converge on the man quietly. She moved herself into position; he was leaning up against a tree, sighing in relief as he emptied his bladder. He was at his most vulnerable right now.

Alex sprung into action, bringing the butt of her rifle to the back of the man's head, knocking him out. The others streamed out of the shadows and took charge of him, tying him up, gagging him and pulling his pants up. Alex felt bad about that, hitting him while he was peeing, but they couldn't take any chances. She could always apologize later if necessary.

They moved a little way off to make sure they weren't over heard and to re-position themselves so they could keep watch on the barn door. If the group inside was alert, they would notice the man missing before long. They didn't have much time.

Alex hurried to wake their prisoner, slapping him a few times after she checked the dog tags around his neck.

"Wake up, Mr. Hernandez," Alex said before administering another slap. The man jolted awake and looked around wildly, trying to orient himself in the dark.

"I'm really sorry we had to meet like this, but my group has run into some real assholes lately. We couldn't take any chances that your group was more of the same. Your name is Robert Hernandez, is that correct," Alex asked. The man nodded once in the affirmative.

"I'm Alex Ha...Dixon," she stuttered. "Can you blink out how many are in the barn," she asked. He blinked slowly eight times.

"Eight. And you make nine," she asked. He nodded.

"How many fighters," she asked. He blinked slowly three times.

"Really? Only three fighters? Three and you make four," she verified. He shook his head no.

"So there's only two inside? If I take this gag off are you gonna keep quiet," Alex asked. Robert nodded yes. "If not, it'll be the end for you and all your friends, am I clear?"

Robert nodded solemnly. Alex nodded to someone behind him and they removed the gag.

"Thank you," Robert said. "We have women and children with us. One of the kids is sick, one of our men is badly injured. We're just trying to get to our leader's home. He says it's not far from here, but with the wounded we had to stop for the night."

"How old are the children and what are the injuries from," she asked.

"There's a baby, he was born just before we hit the road. He's the one that's sick. Don't know what's wrong with him. We've got a couple scientists in our group but they can't figure it out. We ran into some unfriendlies a couple days ago, hit our camp hard, lost thirteen men and women… a couple of teenagers too. Most of us that survived got some sort of injury from that. Been runnin' hard ever since to get to the safety our leader says he has access to. We're just lookin' for a place to fix our people up and get back on our feet. We've been on the run for eight weeks I think, maybe longer… hard to keep track when you're trying to stay alive," Robert said.

"I can understand that," Alex said. "I'd like to meet your leader. Our group can help you, we take people in that are good people, deserving of our help. But, Robert, I warn you, if this is a trap, my people already have the place surrounded and they won't hesitate to kill every single one of you, women and children included."

"I swear to god, everything I've told you is the truth. Scott will back everything I've said. We aren't looking for another fight we can't win. We're worn down to the bone as it is," Robert replied.

"Scott," Alex asked.

"He's our leader. He's gotten us a long way. But I really should let him tell you all about it. I was the guard on duty - I slipped out without telling anyone, so they probably haven't even realized I'm gone. Like I said, we're worn to the bone. You can just come inside with me and Scott will speak to you," Robert said.

"I'll be bringing some of my friends along with me. Can't be too careful," Alex said.

"Whatever you want. Keep me tied up, keep a gun on me, bring an army… whatever it takes for you to help us is fine by me," Robert said.

Alex and the group moved towards the door cautiously, following Robert, who was followed by Alex with her rifle jabbed in his ribs. His hands were still tied and they'd replaced the gag so he couldn't call out a warning in advance. Alex opened the door, removed the gag and pushed Robert through the door into the dark barn interior.

§

"Guys? Scott? We've got visitors, I explained our situation and they can help us," Robert called out into the darkness.

Alex's people began turning on their flashlights and shining them around the interior of the barn, making sure to keep them out of people's faces as they discovered where they were sitting up from sleeping. They kept their guns out, but no one was aiming at anything except for Alex who was still guarding Robert closely.

"Guys, this is Alex Dixon. She says her group -" Robert was cut off by Scott pushing through the group that had gathered and walking right up to Alex, grabbing her by the shoulders. Her group raised their guns and trained them on Scott.

"Oh my God! Alex, honey is it really you," he asked in awe. He pulled a stunned Alex into a bear hug. When she noticed the guns of her group trained on them she waved them off.

"Dad?" Alex choked out. "What… how?"

"I'll explain later… your hair… you look… wonderful," he cried. Tears of joy were streaming down his cheeks. "I knew you'd make it. What about your mother? And Jake? The rest of the hands?"

Everyone watched the reunion awkwardly.

Alex pulled herself from her father's too tight embrace and motioned for everyone to stand down. She ordered Robert to be untied then stood awkwardly, looking at her father.

"Julie didn't make it. She's buried at the top of the mountain. Jake and me are the only ones left… but we brought in everyone from town that survived and we formed a little community. I thought that's what you would have done if you'd been here. We've managed to do pretty well, in spite of all this shit," Alex said.

Scott just stood there and watched his daughter as she spoke to him. She wasn't the same person anymore. She was harder, colder. She had scars on the outside and on the inside too, he could see it in her eyes.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner… Things were complicated… I'll explain later. We really could use some help. We've got sick and injured here and I don't know how much longer little Joey is going to make it," Scott said, his eyes brimming with tears.

"Of course. Amy, radio Tim and tell him the sitch. Let him know we need transport for everyone and have him bring Dr. Benson. Let them know we have two in serious condition. Have them meet us somewhere nearby," she said. "Let's get you guys packed up and moving," she said to her father.

Scott watched as people moved into action without Alex having to tell them what to do. They moved as a team, having clearly worked together for a long time and under difficult conditions, he could tell from the way they kept an eye out for one another as they went about their own tasks.

He moved closer to Alex again, embracing her. Alex hugged him back, but Scott could tell that she was uncomfortable with the contact. She'd never been one for hugs, but he'd never known her to be uncomfortable when he gave her one. He gave her one last squeeze and released her.

"So how's Jake? Looks like he's taken good care of you. I knew he would," Scott said.

Alex rolled her eyes. "I've taken care of him too. He would have died from the fever if I hadn't found him when I did. I'm not some kid that needs taking care of, Scott," Alex retorted.

Scott was taken aback by her tone and use of his first name. It was like he was a stranger to her.

"I didn't mean anything by that Alex. It's obvious that you are capable of taking care of yourself. I just meant it's good you weren't alone and you had each other," Scott said.

" _Have_ each other," Alex corrected. "Jake is back at the ranch coordinating our defense. He'll probably be with the group that comes to pick us up." Alex sighed before continuing. "You should know, Jake and I, we've been through a lot together… and, well, we're together, have been for a while."

"I wondered why Hernandez introduced you as Alex Dixon… can't really say I'm surprised… your mom and I figured you'd grow up to be the right woman for him… never expected it to be so soon, but then I never expected zombies to take over the world either," Scott said with a laugh. "You're happy with him? I mean, I just want you to be happy, Alex. And _safe_. You are being _safe_ , right," he asked.

Alex blushed when she realized what he was talking about. "Not that it's any of your business, but we aren't stupid. We've seen so many kids die…"

Amy walked up at that point, ending the conversation. The group was on the way and would meet them at a nearby ranch. The two groups worked together to get the sick and injured up and moving. They made it to the meeting spot where the others were already waiting for them. Those with injuries were loaded into the truck with Doc Hobbs and Dr. Benson and taken back to the clinic while the others gradually trickled into the remaining trucks, Scott shaking hands of people he'd been friends with in their previous lives. He shook Tim's hand vigorously and hugged both Ellie and Jake. They all climbed into the back of the same truck and talked the whole way back.

As soon as they were seated and moving, Alex leaned over to Jake and whispered, "I told him about us. He said he wasn't all that surprised."

Jake smiled at her in the grey pre-dawn light and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He whispered back, "Looks like we were tha only ones surprised by it."

§

Scott kept an eye on Alex and Jake as they interacted in the bed of the truck. He was surprised at just how much older Alex seemed and, conversely, how much younger Jake seemed. When he'd arrived on the ranch all those years ago, he was the oldest seventeen year old Scott had ever met, outside a warzone. Jake's parents did the best they could, but they were poor and life was made more difficult by sharing the last name of one of the most notorious families in town. The hardships Jake had experienced had aged him more than his years.

Jake arrived seventeen going on fifty, and here he was at the end of the world, with an almost constant grin on his face that practically erased his frown lines. He was attentive to Alex and obviously even more protective of her than before. And Alex seemed to be happy. She was much more serious than Scott had even known her to be, but that was to be expected. Even so, there was a comfort level evident between them that made Scott smile. They were happy, and he couldn't ask for anything more - Alex was alive, thriving and happy. It made everything they'd struggled through to get here worth it.

Scott wondered what had caused the scar on Alex's cheek. It stood out in the moonlight, a line of white across her tanned skin. He wondered what other scars she'd gotten trying to survive. He hoped nothing that would leave a lasting mark, physically or mentally.

When they pulled up to the gate at the Lazy H, Scott shed tears of joy. He really had begun to lose hope, especially after they were ambushed near the Air Force Base. He'd almost given up then, after losing almost his entire party. But they were so close, and the thought that Alex might still be alive kept pushing itself to the forefront of his mind, refusing to be ignored. He kept putting one foot in front of the other, leading his weary party towards the oasis that his mind had turned the Lazy H into. They would be fine as long as they made it home.

"Bet this place's a sight fer sore eyes," Jake said, noticing Scott's reaction.

Scott nodded. "You have no idea, son. There were more than a few times I was tempted to give up on the notion of ever seeing this place again. It was a long couple of months on the road. I never thought California could be so fucking big," Scott said.

"Well, you're here now, you made it. We can show you around tomorrow, after you've had a chance to get some rest. We've got teams working all the different sectors of ranch operations. We had a skirmish with some unfriendlies a few days ago, lost Tim's brother - you remember Billy," Alex asked. Scott nodded. "We wiped out their group and gained three tankers of oil and gas from the oil company near Empire Valley. Puts a pretty decent cleared perimeter around us too. But we can show you the maps and fill you in tomorrow," Alex said as they pulled up to the barn.

As the newcomers began to get out of the trucks, the early risers of the camp began introducing themselves and offering their assistance to the new arrivals. Betty came bustling over from the bunkhouse, fully dressed, clomping along in her mud boots. Kathy, slightly less put together, was following close behind. They immediately sought out the woman and child, ushering them towards the bunkhouse. The men stood around awkwardly after unloading the trucks, looking to Scott to tell them what to do.

"Well, don't just stand there, follow those ladies over to the bunkhouse and they'll get you fed, cleaned and sorted into trailers so you can get some rest," Alex said to the group standing before her. The men looked at her, then looked to Scott. When he didn't say anything, they looked back at Alex and then followed along after Betty and company.

"Where did they take our injured," Scott asked as he looked around. "I don't see that truck anywhere."

"We turned the guesthouse into a clinic,"Jake said. "We brought back everythin' that wasn't nailed down from tha clinic in town an' set it up here. We didn't need tha space ta house anyone, as you can see we've got plenty of trailers here. Ya wanna head over there now," Jake asked.

"Yeah, I'd like to check on the little guy… after everything we've been through to get here, we can't lose him now. He's a beacon of light in the darkness," Scott said.

"Come on, we'll walk with ya. We can check in on Sally," Jake said.

"Sally," Scott asked.

"We've taken in Sally Johnson. She and her brother Simon survived out there for ten days running from ranch to ranch until they ended up on the mountain… Simon ended up dying from a scratch from a dead one. Sally's been with us ever since. She'd become quite a good shot and she's almost as good as me with the knives. We were out on a training run when we ran into a really nasty group of guys… we killed them all, but not before one of them took Sally… fucked her up pretty good in the five fucking hours it took me to find her. She's in the clinic too," Alex explained.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I hope she's okay. I always liked that girl, thought she was going to be something someday. Just like you." Scott stopped walking, and Jake and Alex did as well. Scott turned to Alex and placed his hands on her shoulders, turning her to face him. She instantly stiffened.

"You've become a very impressive young woman. I'm proud of what you two have accomplished here. I always knew you would do great things, Alexandra," Scott said to her. Alex frowned at his words.

"You have no idea what kind of things I've done," Alex said as she shrugged Scott's hands from her shoulders. "Besides, most of this place running like it does it thanks to Billy and Tim. They laid the groundwork and the rest of us just followed directions," she said.

"Don't sell yerself short," Jake said. "Most of tha really good ideas, like how ta fit so many people here comfortably and bringing tha whole clinic back instead of makin' runs all tha time, those were yer ideas. Yer tha reason this ain't just some survivor's camp. There's people here makin' a life fer themselves."

"Your people do seem happy, well-fed and well-rested. Must have a pretty good perimeter set up to be able to sleep so well. I can remember sleeping well in the bunker before we had to run… I didn't think I'd ever have a good night's sleep again," Scott said.

"We just added ta what was already here," Jake said. "We added some pits an' caltrops fer tha dead, wove wire through tha trees at ankle level, thangs ta keep 'em from gatherin' along tha fences. We make regular sweeps ta keep tha bodies from pilin' up, though we ain't had too many since we cleared all tha neighborin' places out. We only use tha guns in emergencies an' tha camp keeps pretty quiet. But we've cleaned out every ranch house, bunkhouse, barn, shed an' vehicle in a five mile radius, that's really what made a difference. Plus, we've been puttin' 'em down since tha beginnin', never really had too many build up, at least, not more than we could handle."

"Is that what happened to Julie? She get sick and you had to put her down," Scott asked, choking a little at saying her name.

Jake looked to Alex, unsure of what to say. Alex, however, answered the question with ease.

"Julie died in a car crash, right after it all went down in town… The Jenkin's boys barricaded the roads into town using the crashed and abandoned cars in the streets… they left the dead inside… When Jake and I finally went into town after that first week, I found her still moving corpse in her car, a part of the barricade. I put my knife in her temple to end it. Then Jake and I buried her at the top of the mountain," Alex explained, as if she'd rehearsed it a thousand times.

They had all stopped walking while Alex talked, stopping about ten yards short of the front door to the clinic. Scott and Jake both stood looking at her and the way she was detached from what she was saying. Jake was concerned, but Scott was downright hurt by her coldness and horrified at what she'd had to do. While he knew it was a part of the world they lived in now, it didn't make it any easier his daughter had to kill her mother.

Alex looked at them looking at her. "What? Come on, let's go check on your people."

Scott shook his head and told her to lead the way. He noticed the way she said your people with an emphasis on "your." He couldn't help but wonder why she was so distant. He thought she would have been happy to see him.

The front entry of the clinic was empty but they could hear the bustle of activity coming from what used to be the dining room, down the hall and off to the right. Alex led them to the sound and they paused in the doorway, watching as Dr. Benson gave hurried directions to Nurse Cindy as he began to cut into the wounded soldier on the table in front of him. Doc Hobbs was taking vitals and drawing blood from the infant while its' mother looked on forlornly, wringing her hands in her lap.

"That's Connor, my right hand. Been with me since Bosnia. Got hurt covering me in the ambush at the air base when I was trying to get Christine and Joey out of the line of fire… I should have known something was wrong from the way the area was so cleared out, after all we'd seen getting out of the city… I was just pressing us to get here. I needed to find help for little Joey…" Scott's voice wavered and his gaze settled on the infant and his mother. "This has been really hard on Christine… Joey was born twelve days before we had to evacuate from the bunker… she didn't really have any time to recover and trying to keep him fed while constantly running had really worn her down. Had a hard time getting enough food in her for the amount of calories she was using up…"

Alex noticed the way her father watched the woman and the child. She had a feeling there was more to their story. "Well, you're here now and the docs will fix them up good as new. We've got just about anything they could possibly need to do their work. Jake, you mind staying here with Scott? See if you can figure out what's going on. I'm going to slip in and check on Sally. I'll be back soon," she said, turning and walking away without waiting for any response.

§

Jake and Scott looked after Alex as she walked away.

"How long has she been that cold and detached," Scott asked.

"Sir, ya gotta understand tha thangs she's had ta do. There's a lot ta fill ya in on. We've been as safe as anyone can be, tucked in here at tha ranch, but she's faced more than a few attacks alone, from both human and dead, and she's here to fight another day. She's gotten hard because she's had too. It's just too hard to feel it all, especially since everything happened to her back to back. She's had to fight to keep her sanity. We don't get time to mourn our dead anymore or recover from tragedy. We just have to keep fightin' on. An' that's just what she's done," Jake said. "Shit, she had a girl from school bite her like she was gonna eat her an' she wasn't even one of tha dead," Jake explained.

"What! What happened? Who?" Scott staggered out.

"Molly Riggs… She went nuts early on, ate her dad - he got gut shot and was tied up and left ta die in tha closet she was hidin' in - an' then she attacked Alex, tried ta kill her by stabbin' her an' succeeded in bitin' her. An' Alex didn't just find Julie. After she put her down she tried ta pull tha body outta tha car all by herself… Julie's body just fell apart, all over Alex... She's come a long way from that day, Scott," Jake said.

"Im glad she's had you, I really am. She seems happy with you. But if she was really in such bad shape do you really think she was ready to jump into bed with you? Even with the world being what it is, she's still awfully young," Scott said, not in an accusing manner or tone. He was just trying to understand what was going on with Alex.

Jake bristled at Scott's assumption. He took a deep breath before he replied, "It ain't like that sir. Never was. We were there for each other after we lost everyone else… kept each other from goin' crazy after seeing it all… figurin' out what it all meant. Us bein' together was just that - bein' together, nothin' sexual. Rest assured, I ain't lettin' her rush inta anythin' she ain't ready fer. Havin' each other, though, it's somethin' happy fer us ta hold on ta while we lose tha world around us. It'd mean tha world ta me ta know we got yer blessin'. She won't admit it, but it'd mean a lot ta her too."

"You've got my blessing, so long as you've got her best interests at heart. If it's what she wants, of course I'll support it," Scott said as he reached out to shake Jake's hand. "Been worrying about her since the day she was born, but always knew she was in good hands with you, Jake."

Alex came around the corner, having been standing there listening to their conversation for the last few minutes. "You don't need to start worrying about me now, Scott. It's been just me and Jake for a lot longer than the dead have been walking. Let's be honest, you gave me to Jake years ago, when you gave me the truck and told me that Jake would teach me everything I needed to know about fixing it. It was clear then that I was never going to be as important to you as I was to him. You and Julie both left me to be raised by other people and I've been doing just fine without you for a long time. I don't need your blessing to make my decisions," Alex spat.

Jake crossed to where she was standing, taking her hands in his. "Come on, Al, don't be like that. Yer dad is back. He's alive. Ain't ya the least bit happy ta see 'im," he asked her in a low voice so only she could hear him.

Alex didn't lower her voice at all when she replied. "I don't mean to be mean, it's just… I let them go already… I did what I had to do to come to terms with it. I don't know how to go back from that."

She looked at Scott, not with cold eyes but with stranger's eyes. They _were_ different people now he realized. He had so much to tell her. Before the end of the world he and her mother had withheld so much from her and she had no clue what had really been going on. It would all come out soon enough, so he was going to have to speak to her soon.

"Alex, you and I need to talk. There's a few things you need to know before we really get into the introductions and serious group talk. Can you wait for just a minute while I look in on them," Scott asked. Alex nodded.

Scott moved into the dining room and approached the table with Doc Hobbs, Joey and Christine. Alex watched as he walked up to the woman and gently put his hands on her shoulders. She didn't even look up to see who it was, she just reached up with her hands and squeezed his tightly, her knuckles turning white. _They are obviously close_ , Alex thought. She looked at the kid and thought about the timing of it all… Joey was about two months old and the turn happened about four months before that… he was likely conceived about two or three months before the turn.

Alex tried to think back to a couple of months before the turn. Scott had always kept a place in the city, paid for by his work, because home was so far away. He stayed there during the week and on occasional weekends. Alex was sure that in the few months leading up to the end Scott had only been home twice, and both times Julie was scheduled to work all weekend. He always said he couldn't make it home because he was working, but Alex was starting to have her doubts as she watched the two of them interact. Jake's voice brought her out of her head.

"What'cha thinkin'," he asked, circling his arms around her.

"Just wonderin' who Joey's dad is… they look like they've been close a long time," she said to him quietly.

"Well, you'll be able ta ask him when ya have yer talk," he said.

"I want ya there too, I don't really want to be alone with him," Alex said.

Jake turned her around to face him. "He's still yer pa, Al. No matter what. Ya thought he was lost but he ain't an' ya need ta give him a chance. He ain't dead. Be happy about that," he said gently as he kissed the top of her head.

Alex sighed. "I know. I just can't seem to wrap my head around it. It doesn't seem real."

"Well, ya start by talkin' ta him yerself. Ya gotta give it time. I'll stay here an' keep an eye on thangs. I'll holler if anythin' changes," he said.

Scott returned to them. "Hobbs says they're going to test for everything they can, they don't have any idea what it is, yet. Once the doctor gets Connor sorted out he'll start looking at Joey. Shouldn't be much longer."

"I'll be here watchin' an' I'll let'cha know if anythin' changes," Jake said.

"Thank you, Jake. Alright, kiddo, let's talk," Scott said, following Alex as she led the way outside.


	10. Chapter 10 We Are Family

9

Alex ignored Scott's use of the childhood nickname and led him outside and around to the back of the house. The patio furniture was stacked, but they pulled two chairs down and set them at a table. They sat down across from one another and Alex pulled out a pack of cigarettes. She lit one and offered the pack to Scott, who stared at her for a moment before accepting it with a grateful smile.

After taking a long, deep drag, Scott asked, "So how long you been smoking?"

Alex exhaled. "Just since the end of the world. Figured if I had to kill people I could smoke and have a few beers if I wanted."

"Seems reasonable to me," Scott said.

"So what did you want to talk about," Alex asked.

"Well, before all this happened your mom and I were waiting to tell you some things, but the right time never came up… and then everything happened…" Scott started.

"You guys were going to split up, right? Doesn't really seem to matter now, does it," Alex interrupted.

"Not directly, no. And we weren't going to split up, at least, we hadn't planned on it. I met Christine and after we'd been together for a while, we decided to have a child. Your mom knew all about it. We were going to just keep doing what we had been doing, I see you and your mom on the weekends and Christine and Joey during the week. It was going to be okay, we were going to tell you about your little brother the next time I came home, I swear," Scott explained.

"My _brother_? Really, Scott? Are you fucking kidding me?" Alex spat, jumping out of her chair. She began pacing back and forth, taking frequent drags from her cigarette.

"No that's the basic story. I swear your mom was okay with everything. She was even excited for us about the baby," Scott said, running his hands through his dirty, thinning hair, his eyes tracking the distressed young woman that was once his little girl.

"Why would she be excited about her husband having a kid with some other woman," Alex yelled.

"We'd been living separate lives for a long time, Alex. Years. You know that. Christine and I have been together for over two years. Your mother met her several times. It wasn't like I was sneaking around on Julie. I loved her. She did her own thing as well. We just kept it from you. We didn't want you to be hurt by our decisions," Scott explained lamely.

"So you thought the solution was to only spend weekends with me, leaving me to be raised by whoever was around? Cuz Julie was never around. I hope you're around for Joey more than you were for me. He won't have the support system I had to make sure he turns out okay," Alex said as she stubbed out her cigarette under her boot and turned to face Scott. "Good talk, _Dad_. Just so you know, I ain't looking for a step-mom and I sure as hell don't want anything to do with that kid. They're your family, not mine."

"Alex, give Christine a chance. She's a good person. I think you might find you have some things in common-" was all Scott got out before Alex interrupted him.

"Like what, Scott? What might I have in common with your concubine? Did she kill her mom and then slide around in her rotten guts while fighting for her life against some crazy cannibal bitch? Did she get the shit beaten out of her and almost raped by a friend of hers who she then had to slit his throat? Maybe she knows how it feels to kill a small herd of the dead all alone or walk through a large herd of them with nothing but the skin of a dead one to protect you. Any of those things sound like _Christine_ to you, _Dad_ ," she snarled. Scott didn't say anything. "I didn't think so. I've got other shit to do. I'll see ya around."

Alex turned on her heel and returned inside to Jake.

"How'd it go," he asked.

"It's his kid, like I thought. Said Julie knew about it, that it's been going on for a few years and she was okay with it… said she was excited for them about the baby. He expects me to treat them like family or some shit. Told him I've got my family and the concubine ain't it. They're his family. He made that choice," Alex said.

"That's pretty harsh, Alex. They just got here. Ya don't gotta treat her like yer mom, but she's gonna be livin' here. Ya gotta figure out how ta deal with her. Besides, ain't there enough room fer a couple more people in our family? We thought we lost _everyone_ , Alex. Sally _did_ lose everyone. Just think about it fer a while, give 'em a chance," he said as he leaned in and kissed her on the nose, making her smile. He then kissed her quickly on the lips.

Alex sighed. "Holy shit, fine. I'll think about it and give it a few days," she said.

"An' ya should take it easy on yer dad, really. He's had it rough, just imagine bein' out there, on tha run, with a baby - a newborn baby - with those fucking things everywhere. We're really lucky here, even with all tha shit we've had ta do. Just give it some time, please," he asked.

"Okay, I'll ease up on Scott too. Geez…," Alex huffed. She snuggled into Jake's chest and wrapped her arms around him. "Can't we just go back to skipping those steps at home? There's so much to think about… more change just means more to lose." Jake comforted her for another moment before Doc Hobbs entered the room and interrupted them.

"Alex, where's your pa? I've got an update for him," Doc said.

"Scott's still outside. I'll go let him know," she said. She walked quickly out to the table where he was still sitting.

"Hey, I'm sorry for being so harsh… I'll try harder to be… less abrasive. It's going to take some time to adjust," Alex said.

"It's okay, Alexandra. I understand. It's a lot," Scott offered.

"Doc is lookin' for ya. Says he's got an update for you," Alex said. Alex followed after Scott, who hurried inside.

"Hey, Dr., Alex said you've got some news," Scott asked upon entering the dining room.

"Yes. Connor is doing well. I removed all of the fragments and I repaired most of the internal damage that was caused. Some of the wounds were pretty dirty and I'm afraid there is a high risk of infection. We've started him on broad spectrum antibiotics, just to be sure, and we'll keep a close eye on him for the next few weeks. Assuming we manage to keep the infection away, he should make a full recovery with very few lasting effects," Dr. Benson reported.

"That's excellent news. We've been through two war zones together and in more firefights than I can count. Been watchin' each other's backs more than half our lives. Thanks, doctor," Scott said, shaking the man's hand. "What about Joey?"

"Well, he's definitely malnourished. We hooked him up to an IV for fluids and nutrition. He's also got a low-grade fever, but so far we aren't seeing a cause. We're going to let the fever run it's course for now, see if we can figure out what's causing it. Not much more we can do for him until we start getting bloodwork back," Dr. Benson answered.

"Two of the men from my party were lab researchers at Stanford, before all this. If you need help running labs, they can help," Scott offered.

"That's good to know, and we will take you up on it. This guy's so little we don't want to take any more blood than absolutely necessary. Can't risk having to repeat a test. Send them on over once they've had a chance to settle in," Dr. Benson said. "Other than that, I'd like to treat Christine for dehydration and malnourishment as well… since she didn't have enough food to eat, enough calories for both her _and_ the baby, her body started breaking itself down to provide for the child. It's a very good thing you guys arrived when you did. Another week out there and you almost certainly would have lost them both. We'll get them set up in a room together and work on getting them healthy again."

"Thank you, doctor. Would it be possible for me to stay with them? The idea of leaving them alone…" Scott said.

"Say no more. We can accommodate all three of you, no problem. We can move another bed in there for you," Dr. Benson said, waving Nurse Cindy over. He explained what they needed to do. Jake offered to help her and they went to get the room set up.

Alex stood back and watched everyone making plans and moving into action. She felt oddly detached from the scene before her. She silently slipped away and snuck into Sally's room. Alex pulled a chair up close to the side of the bed and took Sally's hand in both of hers.

"Hey, darlin'. Hope you're getting some good rest. We found some more people and brought them in… there's even a little baby, Sal. You can show him how to ride a horse someday, won't that be cool," she said to the sleeping girl.

Alex sat quietly for a while trying to think of something else happy to tell Sally.

"Me and Jake, we kinda got married… not like ya think of, with a white dress and a minister and rings and stuff… that shit just doesn't matter anymore. We just made promises to each other, just us… no one else was there. It was perfect… Alex Dixon has a pretty bad-ass ring to it, don't ya think," she quietly said to Sally.

She paused again, wishing Sally would respond. Alex missed her and she just wanted the girl to be alright. Alex squeezed Sally's hand and then rested her forehead on their hands. Tears slipped down her nose and onto their hands.

"Come on, Sally girl. Be strong. You can make it through this… don't let that fucker win, you hear me? You are so strong, so smart and beautiful. He can't take that from ya, kid. He can't. You are a fucking rock star, Sally. You will come through this just fine," she said.

Alex kept her head down crying silently into their hands. She heard the door click quietly behind her but she didn't move. She heard footsteps and a warm hand touched her shoulder and squeezed gently. It was Jake. She knew from his touch and his smell.

"Hey. I was gonna head out. Ya wanna come with me," he asked her quietly.

"Sure," she responded. "Okay, Sal. I'm gonna let ya rest now. We'll be back this afternoon to check on ya," she said to Sally.

Alex followed Jake out of the room and outside. They walked to the barn hand in hand, discussing the various things that needed to be taken care of today. The ranch didn't stop just because people were sick.

"Ya wanna talk about it," Jake asked her after a pause in the conversation.

"About what? My dad's new family? No thanks. It is what it is, talkin' about it won't change anything. Like I told you already, I'll give it some time and see how things go, but you and Sally are my family," she told him adamantly.

"All I'm askin' is that ya keep an open mind an' that ya try ta be nice. Don't try ta drive 'em away," he said with a smile and a squeeze of her hand.

Alex glared at him, but it was short lived as it turned into a grin while she looked at him. "You think you know me so well," she huffed.

"I know ya well enough ta know yer tells an' how yer brain works, most of tha time anyway," Jake said with a smug look.

They walked in silence the rest of the way to the barn. Everyone was up now and getting a start on the day. The bunkhouse was its usual meal time chaos, which Betty and Norma somehow managed like it was nothing and things ran smoothly every day for every meal. Tim and Ellie were seated at a table eating with an exhausted looking Zach. Jake and Alex got their food and joined them.

"Zach was just telling us that things look calm out there. Seems their story was true, no one else seems to be following them," Tim said.

"That's good," Jake said. "Ya did a good job, kid. Ya make sure ta get some sleep after ya eat."

"I just about poked my own eye out with my fork a minute ago, so yeah, I'm headed to bed momentarily," Zach said tiredly. "How's Sally? Any change," he asked.

"She's the same. Dr. Benson has his hands full at the moment, but we're going back this afternoon. He should still be waking her up today," Alex said.

"I was gonna go by and see her, but it sounds like it's pretty busy over there right now. Maybe I could come with you this afternoon," he asked.

"I don't see why not. We don't want to overwhelm her, but you can come with us," Alex said. "Other than the horses, what else are you supposed to take care of today? I can cover you so you can sleep longer," Alex offered.

"I've already taken him off the roster until tomorrow. Kid managed to work for the last two days without a break, covering for our asses. He's earned some time off. But if you'll cover the horses, that will cover all of his duties," Tim said.

"Done," Alex said. "And thanks for stepping up when we needed you, Zach."

"Ditto," Tim said. "Looks like we've got an up and comin' council member," he said with a grin. Zach just looked at them like they were crazy.

"Didn't doubt ya fer a second," Jake said, leaning across the table and clapping Zach on the shoulder. Zach visibly sunk under the weight. "We've been countin' on ya since tha day ya got here an' ya never complain 'bout nothin'. Now, why don't ya go get started on that nap? We'll come get ya this afternoon, alrigh'," Jake asked him.

"Sounds good," Zach replied. "And thanks for all the nice things you guys said… it means a lot. You guys can always count on me to do whatever needs to be done… this place is my home too, and I thank god you guys brought me here. I'm honored that you guys trust me enough to give me so much responsibility." Zach got up from the table and picked up his plate, but Ellie took it from him.

"I got this. Go on, hon. Get some rest," Ellie said. Zach walked off towards his trailer and the others began discussing the plan for the day.

"Betty just told me this morning that the meat supply is getting low, so we need someone to take care of restocking the smokehouse," Tim said.

"I got that," Jake said. "Already was thinkin' 'bout' what we need. Me an' Al can round up some hogs and heads of beef ta slaughter. Should be finished 'bout tha time Dr. Benson was talkin' 'bout wakin' Sally up"

"Alright. Ellie and I will take charge of the few things around here. We've had some questions about Kara, people wonderin' what really happened. Gonna have to tell people somethin'… do we have the story sorted out," Tim asked Jake and Alex.

"Yeah," Jake said. "She came onta me in tha bunkhouse, ambushed me naked an' got pissed when I refused her. Kara slapped me just as Kathy walked in an' she saw me slap Kara back. Kathy helped dress her, but Kara knocked Zach out when I had him guard her while I looked for tha rest of tha council. We think Sally saw Kara sneakin' inta tha house an' followed her. Kara was going to stab Alex while she was in the shower, Sally killed her before she could do that. We think she killed J.J. just before she jumped on me in tha bunkhouse… but I got no idea why. She seemed ta dote on tha kid," Jake finished.

"Alright, that's what we'll tell people then. We've dealt with the bodies, everyone is buried in the grove. Thought we should have Billy's service soon… people need to finish mourning," Tim said.

"I agree. I was thinking that maybe we could have a sunset service today. Maybe move the evening meal back and we could eat after the service," Alex said.

"I was kinda hopin' we could have a bit of a celebration," Ellie said. "Billy would be pissed at us for cryin' over him. He'd want us to have a party," Ellie explained.

"He _would_ be pretty upset about all the waterworks,"Tim said with a laugh. "Let's plan on doing something tomorrow evening, that'll give Betty and Norma enough notice that the menu is changing. We don't want to upset the cooks."

"That's true. Let's come back this evening with some ideas about the celebration," Alex suggested. Everyone nodded.

"I got one other thing to bring up to the group," Tim said. "I think we need to start beefing up our human defenses. Comin' across two really unfriendly groups in opposite directions in a couple of days? Makes me really nervous. I think we really need to make some changes with that in mind. This place is big and easy to infiltrate if you can walk and crawl. Should we come back tonight with some ideas," Tim asked. Again, everyone nodded in agreement.

"Don't know if he's up ta it, but we gotta at least ask Scott ta be part of tha conversation. An' I think he's got a right ta a seat on tha council," Jake said.

"Yeah, I was gonna ask about that. Are things going to just continue the way they have been, with him back? I mean, it's his land…" Tim's voice trailed off.

"It became my land when he was presumed dead and we took charge of it, making it what it is. He can be part of the council if he wants, but his vote doesn't count any more than everyone else's. If it wasn't for us, he'd have nothing to come back to," Alex said calmly.

"I don't know about that," Jake said.

"Are you serious? Don't you remember those assholes from town that showed up here a week into things? They were here to take this place. If _they_ were here and Scott showed up like he did, what kind of welcome would he have gotten? Open arms, warm food, new clothes, medical assistance and a bed to sleep in? Not from those fuckers. So don't try telling me that his claim is bigger than ours. It ain't. I'll be happy to talk to him about it," Alex said.

"I don't think that's tha best idea, Al. I'll talk ta him after he's had a chance to breathe fer a minute. Are we in a hurry fer an answer," Jake asked the group.

"I don't see why we would be… Things can just keep goin' as usual. If he says somethin', shows an interest, we can take it up then," Tim said.

The group agreed, including Alex. She didn't really care as long as they weren't just going to give him control of everything. She'd worked too hard, bled too much, hurt too much to just let a group of strangers come in and take over… strangers she was supposed to be family with.

The group split up and went their separate ways to start their projects for the day. Jake helped Alex feed the horses before they began the process of slaughtering hogs. Jake backed the truck up to the pig pen and Alex herded four of them up the ramp, then closed the tailgate and jumped in the truck. They drove to the slaughterhouse, Alex led the first hog down the ramp and Jake closed the rest in before helping her get everything in place. He adjusted the hoist while Alex shot the pig in the head with the bolt gun. They worked as a team to hang and bleed it, then did it all over again with the rest of the pigs.

It was hard, sweaty work, even in the early morning. Once they were fully bled out, Jake and Alex moved the carcasses into the cleaning room of the slaughterhouse where they worked together to clean the carcasses before moving them to the butchering room to cut them into pieces. They salted the pieces that would hang in the smokehouse to cure and set aside the parts that would be used by Betty and Norma to make sausages.

They finished with the pigs just before lunch. They cleaned up and ate quickly before saddling up their horses and heading out towards one of the neighboring ranches. They had decided to round up cattle as they came across them and let them graze on the various neighboring properties where there was enough land that they could just roam freely. Whenever they needed meat, they could just round a couple up and herd them back to the Lazy H.

It didn't take very long for Jake and Alex to find a couple of good-sized heifers and a bull that were easily cut from the herd they were lazily grazing with. They herded them back to the ranch and followed the same procedure as they had with the pigs. They cut each carcass into primal cuts and everything was hung in the cold room to cure for a couple of weeks. The bovines took longer than the pigs to process, so it was closer to dinner time than they had planned on by the time they finished cleaning everything, and themselves, up. They joined the rest of the latecomers lining up in the bunkhouse for food, advising Betty of their additions to the meat stores. They'd already delivered the makings for sausages to her and Betty was happily chattering about they kind of spices she was going to use to make them breakfast sausages. Jake and Alex just smiled and nodded, excited about the prospect of more of Betty's homemade sausages.

After eating quickly, they wandered over to Zach trailer so he could join them in seeing Sally. After knocking a few times, a still exhausted Zach stumbled to the door and pushed it open for them. "Just give me a sec, I'll be ready," Zach mumbled.

"No worries, kid, we'll be waitin' right here," Jake replied.

It wasn't long before Zach came bounding out of the trailer, slamming the door behind him. "Sorry. It felt like I'd just closed my eyes when I heard you knocking on the door. I don't think I'll ever stop being tired," he joked.

They walked along quietly until Zach broke the silence. "I can't believe your dad is alive and he made it all the way back here… that's pretty amazing," Zach said. "I mean, the odds of that happening have got to be ridiculously low."

Alex responded with a non-committal "uh-huh" and Jake didn't say anything. "Did I say something wrong," he asked.

"No, you didn't say anything wrong," Alex replied. "It's just… complicated."

Sensing this was clearly none of his business, Zach didn't ask any further questions and the rest of their short walk was completed in silence. When they walked into the front area of the clinic, Alex noticed that it was much quieter than it had been that morning.

"Hi guys," Nurse Cindy greeted them as she entered the room. "Dr. Benson is just checking on Sally now. You can go ahead and go in," she said, gesturing towards Sally's room.

They walked through to Sally's room and saw that Dr. Benson had just finished up with her. "Well, she ready ta wake up yet," Jake asked.

"Everything looks good. I stopped administering the sedative at lunch today and it usually lasts about six hours, so she should start waking up anytime now. All three of you can stay in here but keep the noise down and once she starts coming out of it, keep your voices down and try not to move around too much. The less input she has to sort through the easier it will be for her to fully wake up and figure out what is going on around her. Just hold her hand and talk to her quietly and she'll come around eventually," Dr. Benson said.

"So when she wakes up we can take her home," Alex asked.

"Well, hypothetically, yes. But given how agitated she was when you brought her in, we're going to just have to see how it goes. Could be all she needed was some rest, in which case, yes, you can take her home. If she is still having the type of issues she was when you brought her in, we might want to look at some options. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Let's just wait and see how she feels when she wakes up," Dr. Benson said. "Also, we got your father, brother and step-mother all situated. They've had some time to rest, if you'd like to see them."

"I'm not sure where you got your info, doc, but she ain't my step-mother and the kid ain't my brother. I'm just here to see Sally, thanks," Alex said.

The doctor looked at her, but Jake shook his head slightly and nodded to the doctor to meet him out in the hall. After Dr. Benson left the room, Jake excused himself and met the doctor in the hallway.

"Hey, doc. Sorry about that… Alex is having a hard time adjusting ta her pa bein' alive. He just told her 'bout tha kid bein' his. Told her that it's been goin' on fer years an' that her ma knew about it an' supported it. She don't know what ta make of it. Gonna take her some time ta stop bein' so… Alex about it. They're doin' okay, though? Mom and baby," Jake asked.

"So far, so good," the doctor responded. "Still not a lot to go on with Joey, but I'm positive that just getting him adequate nutrition will go a long way. They said he didn't get sick until they were on the road. I'm hoping whatever it is will solve itself if his body gets strong enough. We just have to wait and see. Christine should be okay. Started her on some vitamins and calcium supplements in addition to the IV. Her bones are weak because her body was eating away at the calcium to supply it to the baby. I'd like to do an x-ray on her to take a look at the bones, but, again, we're waiting to give them some time to recuperate."

"Thanks for the update, doctor. Let me know if there's anything we can do to help," Jake said.

"You sure about that? She doesn't seem to care if they live or die," Dr. Benson said.

"I'm sure. She's angry now, but she'll be even angrier if something happens to them," Jake responded. "Alex can be a bit complicated," he said with a grin.

"Well, son, I do believe men have been commenting on the sanity of women since, well, since they invented the language to do so," Dr. Benson said with a chuckle. Jake nodded.

"Some days I really do wonder," Jake said. "But then the next day everything is back to normal, almost like it never happened. I'll tell ya, she sure does keep me on my toes," he laughed.

Jake returned to Sally's room and took his seat next to Alex. Zach sat across from them holding Sally's other hand, and he was busy telling her some silly story about a bird and a frog he'd seen when he was out on watch one day. Alex sat listening half-heartedly as she stared out the window. Jake had just sat down when movement from Sally caught everyone's attention and they all froze, staring down at her as they did so. It wasn't much, just the twitch of her leg, but they waited patiently for any sign that she was waking. After a moment, when she didn't move any further, Zach resumed his story and Alex resumed staring, only now she was staring at Sally instead of outside.

It was another hour before Sally really started to wake up. The leg twitch progressed to an arm twitch which progressed to voluntary shifting in the bed as she rolled over on her side, facing Zach. When no one else seemed willing to talk, Zach resumed his story, which now involved one of the horses as well. When Sally rolled back over onto her back her eyes finally began to move around under the lids and cracked open just a bit. Alex immediately started talking to her.

"Hey there, Sally girl," Alex cooed. "Just take it easy. You've been asleep for a couple days, so give yourself some time to wake up," she told her quietly. Sally rolled towards Alex's voice, smiling with her eyes closed. Her lip had healed considerably in the two days that she'd been there recovering. Doc Hobbs had been putting the horse salve on it, and between that and not moving it, the body had a chance to heal itself some.

"Alex…" Sally hoarsely whispered.

"Shh…I'm right here, Sal. Just take it easy, we aren't going anywhere," Alex said quietly.

"Wh… why did…" Sally was trying to say something but her throat was dry and she began coughing. Zach got up without being asked and went to get the doctor.

"Hush now girl," Jake said. "Doctor said ya gotta take it easy, don't try ta talk jus' yet."

Sally's smile got bigger. "Jake…" she whispered.

Zach returned with Dr. Benson and Nurse Cindy. Cindy brought a plastic cup with a straw in it and some small ice chunks. The doctor gave Sally a precursory look, but didn't linger long. He pulled Jake to the side to explain.

"She's still not quite awake yet. Seems to be okay, but I don't want to give her a full examination until she's had a chance to wake up some more. If she can sip out of the straw you can let her, or if not, you can give her some ice chunks, once she's more alert. We'll be close if you need anything," Dr. Benson said.

Jake nodded and returned to Sally's bedside.


	11. Chapter 11 The Times They Are A-Changin'

10

Sally rolled over to face Jake and Alex after her small coughing fit. Her eyes finally fluttered open all the way and she parted her lips slightly, trying to talk again.

"Hey Sally. Here, you wanna try to sip some water from a straw," Alex asked as she retrieved the plastic cup from the table and held the straw close to Sally's injured lips. Sally gingerly put the straw in the corner of her mouth and managed to swallow a small sip before she winced in pain.

"Why… does… everythin' hurt," she gasped out.

"You were hurt pretty badly. Dr. Benson decided to keep you asleep for a little while to help you heal. Just relax. Don't try to move, okay," Alex told the girl softly. She held the cup and straw as Sally took another small sip. She grimaced but her body didn't flinch this time.

"Why…" Sally asked after she finished swallowing. After a few moments when she didn't elaborate further, Alex gently urged her on.

"Why what, darlin'," Alex asked. She put the cup down and took Sally's hand in both of hers.

"Why… do ya… keep callin' me that," Sally slowly breathed out. Several tears slipped out of her swollen eyes and down onto her pillow.

"What? Darlin'? I don't know… it just came out when I was really worried about ya. I'll stop. I'm sorry, Sally. I didn't mean to upset you," Alex said. She tried really hard not to show how hurt she was by Sally's question.

"It's okay… just don't anymore… it's not good…" Sally struggled to get out.

"Okay, Sally. I won't, I promise. I'm really sorry," Alex said. She went to gently stroke Sally's hair, but Sally cringed when Alex's fingers got caught in a tangle. Alex instantly pulled her hand away, flustered. She started to pull her other hand out of Sally's, but Sally squeezed her hand as tight as she could to hold her there.

"It's not you… it's him," Sally whispered to her.

Alex instantly understood what Sally was talking about - that fuck had probably called her darlin' or something and now she didn't want to be called that. She squeezed Sally's hand back.

"I get it, Sally, don't worry," Alex whispered back to her.

Alex helped Sally take a few more sips of water and then Dr. Benson came in to check on things. He ushered everyone out of the room except Nurse Cindy who had accompanied him. Sally asked for Alex to stay, so Jake and Zach excused themselves and wandered out to the hall.

"That balm that Hobbs insisted on using has really worked wonders. I had my doubts, but I'm glad he insisted. We'll keep you on the antibiotics for the full ten days, just to make sure there's no infection," Dr. Benson said. He was intentionally being vague about the nature and cause of her injuries.

"So, Sally, can you tell me the last thing you remember," Dr. Benson asked after completing his minimal physical evaluation of Sally.

Sally furrowed her brow while she tried to think back. "I'm not sure… pieces of things… a baby… horses… a wedding dress… frogs… something about a frog with a broken wing," Sally said, clearly confused. She cleared her throat and Alex gave her some more water.

"Good," Dr. Benson said. "What about before that? Can you remember anything before that?

"Blood… lot's of blood. Kara. I killed her because she was going to kill Alex…" Sally said, her voice wandering off at the end of the sentence. She was quiet for a moment before she continued. "Then I stuck the knife in my leg… thought I couldn't feel anything… then there was more blood… I don't remember after that," she said.

"Do you remember how you got the other injuries you have," Dr. Benson followed up.

Sally was quiet for a minute before she looked him dead in the eye and replied shortly, "Yes."

"Do you still feel the urge to hurt yourself, Sally? You need to be honest with us, we are just trying to help you get better," he said.

Sally looked up at Alex before she looked back at the doctor. "No… I don't know why I did that… I thought I heard his voice telling me horrible things… I don't know," Sally told them. "I don't feel like it right now, though."

"That's good, Sally. Do you think you can talk about what happened? I don't mean right this second, but you should talk about it. Tell someone about it just to get it outside of you. It's important, in the world we now find ourselves in, to remember that you aren't alone here. We are all helping each other to do more than just survive here. Anyone can listen. They don't have to understand to listen, right," the doctor asked her. Sally just stared at him. "Well, you think about it. I'll talk to you about it again later."

"So she can come home then," Alex asked.

"Well, I really think it would be good for her to stay here another day. Another solid day of healing while we reintroduce you to solid food, what do you think," Dr. Benson asked her. Sally just shrugged one shoulder.

"With the other two patients, it would be easier for me to keep an eye on how you're doing if you stay here. But it won't matter if you're just going to sneak out again, so it's really up to you, Sally," the doctor continued.

Sally shrugged again but followed it with a gruff, "I'll stay… hurts too much ta move."

"Excellent," Dr. Benson said with a smile. "Let's see about sitting you up a little against the pillows, alright?" Nurse Cindy moved in with her ever present smile and helped the doctor adjust Sally into a slightly more upright position. "How's that feel? Too much pressure on your chest," he asked. Sally shook her head no.

"Good. We'll sit you up a bit more in a few minutes if you feel up to it. Keep taking small sips of water; there's some ice if you'd prefer. Any questions for me," he asked, looking to Alex when Sally didn't respond.

"Not right now, doctor. Thank you," Alex said.

"Well, I'll leave you to it then," he said as he exited the room.

Alex helped Sally with the ice chunks and a few sips of water. When several minutes had passed and Zach and Jake had still not returned, Sally asked Alex a question that had been bugging her.

"Do you know what that stuff about the frog with the broken wing was," Sally asked suddenly.

Alex let out an involuntary laugh. "I think you have to ask Zach about that one. He was telling you some story about a frog and a bird and a horse, I think," she said with a laugh. "I don't remember exactly how it went. He's around here somewhere, he can explain it to you."

Sally smiled. "I thought it was a weird dream about a deformed frog. There's a fuzzy picture in my head," Sally said. She was quiet for a few minutes. "Wait, what about the wedding dress and baby? That wasn't Zach's story was it," she asked.

Alex shook her head. "No, that was my story. But it wasn't really a story. Me and Jake made promises to each other to take care of and protect each other until we die… you know, like marriage vows," Alex explained slowly.

"You guys got married," Sally asked, looking confused.

"Well, what I told you was that we got married, just not like you think with a white dress and a minister and rings and stuff. We just made those promises to each other, no one else was there. It was perfect," Alex said.

"Oh... You can do that and it counts," Sally asked slowly, clearly still confused.

Alex explained to her about the system of law being out of commission and how they needed to make new laws, have new ways of doing things that were appropriate for the world they now lived in. As Sally began to understand, she slowly nodded her head.

"I think I get it… it's like how we can break into people's houses and take everything we want because the people that lived there are probably dead," Sally said.

Alex nodded. "Exactly. Everyone that made and enforced the rules of the old world are dead and gone. Or at least, nowhere near here. We're on our own and we have to do what works for us and our group."

Sally got a panicked look on her face. "Are you having a baby too," she whispered with concern. The smile on Alex's face disappeared. She shook her head.

"What? Oh my god, no! Not me… geez. We found some other survivors out there… a couple, Scott and Christine. They had a baby boy a couple of weeks before they had to run. They were on the road for a couple of months, they said," Alex told Sally a sterilized version of the truth.

Sally looked relieved. "Good. I mean, cool. I'm glad it's not you," Sally whispered. Her voice was starting to sound raspy again. Alex helped her with more water as Jake and Zach knocked and entered the room.

"Talked ta Dr. Benson. Said she's stayin' another night. Ya feelin' okay, Sal," Jake asked as he approached the bed.

Sally nodded. "Okay… just hurts ta move… easier ta stay. Promise I'll stay this time," Sally ground out. Sally leaned her head back on the pillows and closed her eyes. "I could sleep for a week and still be tired. I ain't goin' anywhere," she said to no one in particular.

"Cindy is bringin' ya some chicken broth, special from Betty and Norma. Doctor said ya gotta eat somethin' 'fore ya can go back ta sleep," Jake grinned at her.

"Well, she better get here soon or it'll be too late," Sally said slowly.

As if on cue, Cindy appeared in the doorway with a loaded tray. "Hi guys. I've brought some treats for our patient," she said as she set the tray on the table. "There's some chicken broth for you to start with," she said looking at Sally. "And some Jello for dessert. You don't have to eat it all, but the doctor said he'd like to see you eat at least half of the broth. You can take your time. Let's get you a little more upright," she said. Cindy then helped Sally into a full sitting position while Alex adjusted her pillows.

"That's better. Need anything else, hon," Cindy asked the girl. Sally shook her head. "Just let me know if you do," she said cheerily on her way out the door.

"That girl always looks like she ate a fucking rainbow," Alex grumbled after Cindy was out of the room. "That smile of hers just grates on my nerves," she said as she picked up the broth and spoon.

"Least you can leave… I'm stuck with her," Sally said as she opened her mouth for the broth. "Whole lotta things out there worse to look at than her smile," Sally said after swallowing.

Alex took a deep breath. "You're right, Sally. I shouldn't complain about something as nice as a smile in this shit world," she told her honestly.

Alex continued to spoon feed Sally the broth and before long she'd finished the entire bowl. Sally's eyelids were sagging; she was full and now it was time for her to sleep.

"We're gonna let ya sleep now, Sal," Alex said. "You need anything before we go?"

"Will you stay here with me tonight," Sally asked her sleepily.

"Sure. I can stay, but we have to go meet with the council first. We have a number of things to figure out. It could be a couple hours," Alex said, looking at Jake. Jake nodded. "But I'll come back here after. I'll be here when you wake up."

"I'll go see about getting another bed set up," Jake said as he headed for the door.

"I'll help," Zach said. "I'm glad you're awake, Sally," he said to her as he stood next to her bed. He squeezed her hand.

"Will you come back tomorrow and tell me about the frog with the broken wing," Sally asked him.

Zach grinned broadly. "Sure! I'll come back and tell you all about him," Zach said. "What time?"

Sally managed a small smile. "Whenever. I'm not going anywhere," she said.

"Alrighty," he said. "And I'll see if I can smuggle you in a piece of Norma's pie," he whispered conspiratorially. He gave Sally a wink and followed Jake out of the room.

"Sorry I can't just stay now," Alex told her as she placed everything back on the tray. "A lot of things have come up since you and I got back and I still have a duty to the council," she said.

"It's okay. You promise you'll be here when I wake up," Sally asked her as she began drifting off.

"I promise. I'll be right here," Alex told her.

Sally drifted off to sleep and Jake and Zach returned shortly thereafter with a twin bed frame. They made quick work of setting it up and then brought in the mattress and got the bed set up for Alex. Nurse Cindy dropped off a set of sheets and a blanket for her and removed the food tray. Alex let Cindy know that she was going to a council meeting and return as soon as she could. Cindy said she would keep an eye on Sally while she was gone and then Jake, Alex and Zach headed to the barn.

"Well, so much for us finally getting to spend a night together," Alex said as they approached the barn.

"Umm hmm," Jake hummed. "'S only one more night, hopefully," he said. "'Sides, it's more important fer Sal ta feel safe."

"True," Alex said as they walked up to the architect's table where Tim, Ellie, Leon and Doc were combing over several maps of the area. Zach peeled off to head back to his trailer.

"Hey guys," Tim said as they walked up. "We were just going over the maps, talking to Leon about ideas for bulking up our defenses."

"Come up with anythin'," Jake asked.

"A few things. We've already got pits dug in areas that were high traffic with the dead, but we were thinkin' that we could dig more pits around the perimeter. Some areas there's just too much granite in the ground and it won't work, but we can camouflage the pits and add stakes, angled just right to impale anyone that falls into it. Leon also suggested more barricades on the roads in the area," Tim said.

"'S alotta work, but good ideas," Jake said. "Ya know, I was thinkin' 'bout somethin' that Scott said when he was tellin' us 'bout gettin' ambushed near tha old air force base… said he shoulda known somethin' was wrong cuz there weren't any dead around. We cleared 'em all out… haven't seen many 'round here since winter. Could be a pretty clear sign ta others that there's survivors in tha area… a lot of 'em," Jake said.

The group was quiet for a few minutes while they considered the implications of Jake's statement.

"We never even considered that when we decided to clear everythin' out," Tim said. "We were just worried about the dead tearin' down the fences and keepin' this place secure. Makes sense though, that it would be a give away that there's other survivors around."

"When Sally and I were out there we ran into trouble the first night. But the whole way there we saw fewer than five dead… then we found the big herd of them in the pens and all of the stuff in the shed. Someone was rounding them up, 'working them with the skins' as the Indians used to say. I don't know how they figured it out, but it's pretty fucking genius," Alex said.

"Genius, sure," Doc said, "but why?"

"Probably for what we used them for," Alex said. "To attack an unsuspecting camp."

"Well, we don't need them for that," Doc said.

"Maybe not now, but we might have a use for something like that in the future," Alex said.

"So we're attacking people now," Doc asked pointedly.

"If they're like those two groups we came across, then yes, yes we are," Alex stated with authority.

"Alright, so there could be a logical reason for gatherin' them," Tim said, "but it's goin' to be a logistical issue to _actually_ gather them. We've cleared everythin' out in a five mile radius. We'd have to put ourselves in a pretty vulnerable position, just to bring the damn things back that we worked so hard to get rid of in the first place," Tim said with frustration.

"I don' think we gotta make a decision right now," Jake said. "We should talk ta Scott, see what he thinks. He'll have a good idea of what's out there past tha five mile mark, at least ta tha northwest. We got any other ideas about defense," Jake asked the group.

"I was thinkin' we could increase the number of people we have on each shift for perimeter watch. We should also continue with the scoutin' patrols, though I'm not sure how to make them any safer," Tim suggested.

"Just an idea about "collecting the dead" so to speak," Alex said, "and then I'll leave it alone. If the purpose of bringing them back here is to make it look like there isn't anyone around, couldn't we just reinforce some fences along the road and stage a few of them along the roads, so it looks like they're still roaming around freely," she asked the group. "I mean, if people are really looking for a place to stay, they'll figure out eventually that all the ranches around here have been cleared out - of both the dead and their belongings - and they'll come lookin' for us, either to join us or to take what's ours."

"That's true," Leon said. "If it's just about creating the illusion, staging them behind reinforced fences in fields along the road will work. If we really want to use them as an active defense, then larger packs of them should be housed somehow in several different locations. We don't want to have so many in one spot that they tear down whatever structure has been built to keep them in," he added.

"What about the trailers for semi trucks," Alex said. Everyone looked at her like she was crazy. "For the dead? If we could somehow get them inside the trailer, we could just move them that way… hell, we could just store them in the trailer. It's not like they need air."

"We just load them up and drive them wherever we want," Leon echoed. "That's a great idea. It cuts down on the risk from having to herd them like you and Sally did and we can move them over long distances easier. But it's good to know that we can fool them by smell. _That_ might actually be useful information."

"How so," Doc asked him.

"Well, if we had them around our perimeter, if we could somehow 'neuter' them, so to speak, we could disguise the human scent of the camp, keeping others from wandering this way," Leon explained.

"But we don't have enough dead around here to worry about that," Doc argued.

"Not now, but we could at some point," Leon said. "All I'm sayin' is it's information that could come in handy some day."

"How would you neuter them," Alex asked.

"I'm not sure… if we had a few around I could test a few theories," Leon said with a grin.

"Again, I ask why," Doc repeated.

"Why," Alex asked him. "Because, like any enemy, the more weaknesses we know about the more we can take advantage of them, to our benefit. If we can somehow figure out how to keep them from biting or scratching, essentially remove the threat, there might be some sort of way to use that in our favor against the assholes out there."

"I can't really argue with that. We really _should_ know as much about the dead as possible. Leon is right, there could be something that we've overlooked. It doesn't hurt to look into every option," Tim said.

"I agree," Alex said. "Leon, you want to join me in doing a little research project," Alex asked.

"Sure. We should be able to wrangle a couple of them between the two of us," Leon replied.

"So the two of you are just going to cut on people to figure out their weaknesses," Doc asked, clearly appalled at the discussion.

"They _ain't_ people anymore, Doc. They're fucking dead," Alex retorted. "Me and Leon are gonna conduct an experiment, plain and simple. Ain't no fuckin' different than rats."

"No different than rats!" Doc exclaimed. "They're human beings, Alex. They have families and stories," he tried to explain.

Alex rolled her eyes and exhaled loudly. "Really, Doc? After everything you've seen you still believe that their dead families and stories matter now," Alex asked him in disbelief.

"They always matter," Doc said. "You're just too young to understand."

"You don't get to fuckin' dismiss me because of my age. That's not even part of the fuckin' equation," Alex said forcefully. "We have questions that need to be answered, plain and simple. There's an easy way to get those answers. You're wasting your breath, Doc. This is happening," Alex finished cooly.

Before Doc could reply, Tim interjected. "Alex is right, Doc. We need answers and there's only one way I see to get them. In the grand scheme of our continued survival, I don't see how their stories or dead families matter either," Tim said calmly.

Doc looked around the circle and failed to find a sympathetic face in the bunch.

"Sorry, Doc,"Jake said. "Yer outnumbered this time. We gotta figure some shit out. If others out there have already figured this shit out, we gotta know what we're dealin' with. Don't wanna be surprised."

"Fine," Doc said, throwing his hands up in resignation. "But I don't want any part of it."

"We weren't askin' for your help," Alex said.

Doc gave one last look around the group before wandering off to the barn.

"Okay, so if that's settled, can we move on to plannin' for tomorrow? Did you guys talk to Betty and Norma," Alex asked Tim and Ellie.

"We did," Ellie replied. "Of course they said it was no problem… already had a menu figured out before we finished our conversation," she said with a laugh. "They're like Keebler elves, I swear to god."

"Excellent," Alex said. "So the service will be at sunset. Are we going to have food before or after," she asked.

"Well, before would be better I think," Ellie said. "Maybe dessert and drinks afterwards? My only issue is _where_ to have it. If we want it to be more celebratory I think it needs to be somewhere other than where we eat every meal, every day," she said.

The group nodded in agreement.

"What if we have it at the house," Alex asked. "We can easily accommodate everyone if we move some furniture around, plus it won't be _everyone_ , since we still have to have guard duty. Did you ask for volunteers," she asked Tim.

"Didn't have to," Tim replied. "Had an entire shift volunteer before lunch was over."

"That's awesome," Alex said. "So, about using the house. We're gonna need a couple of people to help with a little clean up and moving furniture around. It shouldn't take long."

"Alright. We'll get a couple of people to come help out first thing in the morning," Tim said.

"I'll head right back to the house as soon as Sally is awake and settled for the morning. I'll help out with the house and then take care of Zach's chores," Alex said.

"Sounds good," Tim said. "Anythin' else for tonight, cuz I'm beat," he asked the group. Jake nodded.

"One more thang jus' occurred ta me," Jake said. "Sorry, Tim. I was jus' wonderin' if we wanna give Scott's group a chance ta say somethin' 'bout their dead. They ain't got nothin' ta bury, but maybe it'd be nice ta give 'em a chance ta say goodbye," he said.

"That's a good idea, Jake. You want to run that by Scott," Tim asked.

"Sure. I'll ask him 'bout that an' comin' ta talk ta tha council 'bout defenses," Jake said.

"Alright, on that note, I'll see ya'll bright an' early," Tim said before heading into the barn to wrap things up for the day. Ellie headed to her trailer while Alex and Jake headed to the house so Alex could grab a few things to sleep at the clinic.

It didn't take her long to gather pajamas, a change of clothes and her toothbrush. She also pawed through her bookshelf to find a book to read. Alex pulled a dog-eared copy of Little Women from the shelf. Jake watched her stick it into her bag.

"What," she asked him when she noticed the smirk on his face.

"Nothin'," he replied. "Jus' struck me as funny havin' time ta read," Jake said seriously. "Only thang I read these days is a map."

"I love this book. I love how Jo finally leaves to follow her dreams only to be pulled back by her family. The rich boy we think she's supposed to be with is just that, a boy that can't help her fulfill her dreams. And then she meets the poor professor that has nothing to give her but his love and support and she realizes that's all she ever really needed," Alex explained to him. She threw her bag over her shoulder and gave Jake a quick peck on the cheek as she made her way out of their room.

"What was that fer," Jake asked her as he followed her down the hall.

"That's for bein' my love an' support," she said quietly. "Like Jo, I didn't know how badly I needed it until I had it."

Jake grabbed Alex's hand and pulled her to him, pushing the bag from her shoulder and pulling her body flush with his. He wrapped his arms around her waist and Alex snaked hers around his neck. "You'll always have that," Jake said. He leaned in and kissed her; Alex tried to prolong the kiss but Jake pulled away, still holding her close. "Nuh uh, gotta get ya back ta tha clinic," he said with a smile. He released her, Alex picked up her bag and they continued down the stairs.

"So I'm yer poor professor, eh," Jake said with a laugh.

"Well, you didteach me _everything_ I know," she said with an impish grin.

"Hush now girl, yer gonna make me blush," Jake teased.

§

After walking Alex back to the clinic and helping her make the bed, Jake laid with her while Alex read Little Women aloud. It was getting late and the long day day was finally catching up with Alex. When she yawned mid-sentence, Jake gently took the book out of her hands.

"Think it's bedtime fer ya," he said. Jake got up from the bed and helped Alex get under the covers before he sat on the edge of the bed. "I'm gonna go check in on yer pa, make sure they're doin' okay before I go check tha barn, make sure everyone got settled in alright," he told her.

"Okay. You try to get some sleep," Alex told him. Jake leaned in and kissed her goodnight.

"Ya too. I'll probably come back with Zach in tha mornin' an' see how she's doin'. Love ya," he said after one more kiss. Jake stood and headed for the door.

"Love you too," Alex replied.

Jake turned the light off and closed the door behind him. The clinic was quiet, but Jake knew where to find Dr. Benson. He knocked lightly on his office door, which used to be the den, and entered when the doctor invited him in.

"Alex and Sally are all settled in fer tha night," Jake said. "I jus' wanted ta check with ya an' see if there's an update on Joey."

"Nothing's changed. He's eating well, so that's a good sign. The couple of labs we've gotten back haven't helped do anything other than rule out what it isn't. The new lab guys said they should have a number of test results tomorrow, so it's still just a waiting game. We were hoping for some formula to supplement poor Christine, but the cans we had on hand were expired already and I didn't want to risk it. We're just going to try to get as many calories into her as we can each day and hope that it will be enough for little Joey," the doctor explained.

Jake nodded. "You want us to go out and look fer more," he asked.

"No reason to worry about it. Formula has a pretty short shelf life. It's likely that there won't be anything out there that is still within the 'use by' date," he said. "But I appreciate the offer. I just looked in on them a few minutes ago. I'm sure they're still awake if you want to pop in and check on them."

"I'd like ta do that. Just wanna make sure they got everythin' they need," Jake said. He said goodbye to the doctor and made his way to Scott and Christine's room. He knocked lightly, not wanting to wake them if they were already asleep. There was a soft, "Come in," and Jake slipped quietly into the dimly lit room.

"Hi Jake," Scott said. "Everything okay," he asked. Christine was settled into a bed holding Joey cradled in her arms. They were both hooked up to IV's and the heart monitor on Joey was quietly beeping a steady rhythm. Scott sat in a chair next to the bed.

"Everythin's fine. Jus' got Alex tucked in - Sally asked her ta stay with her tonight - an' thought I would come an' make sure ya got everythin' ya need before I head out," Jake said.

Scott smiled at him. "We're good, but thank you for checking, Jake. It means a lot to me," he said. "How's Sally doing," Scott asked.

"She's doin' okay, I guess… she woke up an' ate somethin'. Her outside wounds are healin' pretty fast, ribs are gonna take a while though. An' whatever he did ta her really fucked her up in tha head…" Jake said.

"She's what, eleven now," Scott asked.

"Jus' turned twelve in January," Jake answered.

"That's a shame… she's so young… such trauma," Scott said.

Jake nodded. "Yeah…"

"Well, son, all you can do now is be there for her any way you can. It's a shame about her parents. I always enjoyed dinner parties at the Johnson's," Scott said. "You and Alex have had her this whole time," he asked.

"Mmmhmm. Been with us ever since Alex found her an' her brother out there… kid didn't make it an hour after we got 'im back. Guess it's a good thang Alex found them when she did, otherwise she probably wouldn't have made it at all," Jake said.

"She's lucky to have you two. It's clear you both care about her a great deal," Scott said.

"Al showed up in time fer her, she showed up in time fer us… we've all helped each other," Jake said. Scott nodded. "Well, if ya don't need nothin', there's jus' a couple thangs before I get outta here," Jake said.

"Of course. What is it," Scott said.

"Well, we, the council, we're reevaluatin' our human defenses and we wanted ta ask ya if ya got anythin' ta contribute ta tha conversation… also, there's a seat on tha council with yer name on it, if ya want it," Jake said quickly.

"Don't know about taking a seat on the council right now. My priority is right here in this room," Scott said, looking over to Christine and Joey. "But I'd be happy to talk defense strategy. Sometime in the next few days work for you," Scott asked.

"Sure," Jake said. "Whatever works fer ya. We'll be around. Thanks," Jake said.

"And the other thing," Scott asked him.

"Oh, yeah. We're havin' a service fer Billy tomorrow at sunset, with a nice dinner beforehand at tha house an' then dessert an' drinks after. We were wonderin' if ya, yer group, wanna say somethin' 'bout tha people ya jus' lost. I know it ain't much, but it's somethin'," Jake offered.

"That's real nice of you guys to think of and include us in, Jake. I'm sure there will be some people that would like to say something. And I'd like to say something on Billy's behalf as well," Scott said. "I'll talk to Hernandez in the morning and have him spread the word to the rest of our people. Do you need us to do anything else in preparation," he asked.

"I don't think so. Betty an' Norma have all tha food prep taken care of an' we got people helping get tha house ready, so all ya gotta do is show up," Jake said.

"Well, I will come by for the service at least. Christine and Joey have to stay here, so I can't leave them for very long, but I'll be there," Scott said.

"Alrigh'. Well, I'll let ya getcher rest now. See ya tomorrow," Jake said. The two men shook hands before Jake left and closed the door behind him. He walked back to the house in the dark for what he hoped would be his last night sleeping alone.


	12. Chapter 12 The Downward Spiral

13

"ALEX! NOOOO! NOOO! STOP!" Sally's screams echoed throughout the clinic and ripped Alex from her unconscious state. She bolted upright in her bed and was instantly as Sally's side as soon as her brain processed what was happening.

"Sally! I'm right here! It's okay," Alex cooed to her, trying to get her to relax. Sally fought her off, clawing and hitting Alex's arms and face when she touched her. Alex finally stopped trying to reach her but continued trying to calm her by talking. Sally continued to scream the same thing over and over as Doctor Benson came running into the room in his pajamas. Nurse Cindy wasn't far behind.

"What's wrong," he yelled when he entered the room and saw the girl screaming and clawing at the air around her.

"I woke up to her screamin' an' I tried to calm her down but she just kept fightin' me," Alex explained to him. Dr. Benson gave some directions to Nurse Cindy who scurried out of the room, returning shortly with a syringe and a vial which she proceeded to hand off to the doctor.

"Sally," Dr. Benson called loudly to the girl. "Sally, can you hear me? You're safe, you're in the clinic now and no one can hurt you," he called to her. Sally continued to yell. Dr. Benson didn't wait any longer. He took the syringe, sucked a dose into the needle and then injected it into Sally's IV. After a few moments she began to calm, the yelling stopped and she fell back asleep.

"What the hell was that," Alex asked. Hearing Sally screaming at her to stop doing something, as if she had been doing something _to_ her, had completely unnerved her.

"It's not uncommon with survivors of major trauma to have night terrors. It's a little like sleepwalking, while she might _look_ awake, she really was still asleep and acting all this out. It's fairly common with PTSD, which we figured she was suffering from already," he explained.

"What do we do about it," she asked.

"Well, for now I've given her something to help her sleep, but I gave her the smallest dose possible. The drug we use for this particular problem builds up in your system and people develop a tolerance to it. We don't have much to begin with and I really don't want her to have to rely on drugs to sleep. We'll start small and just hope that we can get her through it. Quite often the terrors will just stop after a while, but, like I told her before, she needs to start talking to get it out. In the old world, talk therapy was proven to work wonders for this particular PTSD symptom," Dr. Benson explained.

"Alright. I will work with her to get her start talking. Did you give her enough to sleep through the rest of the night," Alex asked him.

"Hard to tell. It's the minimum dosage for her age and weight. Could work for six hours, could work for two, it just depends on her body and her metabolism," Dr. Benson responded. "And Alex, so you know, she probably won't remember anything about the dream, and just like any other dream, what's in the dream doesn't necessarily represent reality. I don't think she's actually _afraid_ of you," he added.

§

The small group that had gathered began to disperse; Scott had lingered near the door watching the proceedings and he now waited for everyone to wander away before he approached Alex.

"You doing okay," Scott quietly asked Alex as he stepped cautiously into the room. She had her back turned to the door and was looking at Sally sleeping in the bed. Her shoulders tensed when she heard his voice, but she didn't turn around to face him. Scott approached a little closer.

"Yeah, I'm just worried about her," Alex said softly. She didn't get any closer to the bed, but Scott could tell that she wanted to. He took another couple of steps closer to her. He was within arms reach, but he still didn't make any attempt at physical contact with his daughter.

"She's always been a tough kid," Scott said. "She's lucky to have you, you know. In this world or any other. It's clear that you care about her very much." Every part of him was telling him to reach out to her and offer her comfort, but their interactions throughout the day forced him to ignore his instincts.

"Shit. It's my fault she's even here to begin with," Alex said with a huff. She turned on her heel to face Scott. "If I hadn't been so cocky and thought we could take care of the camp with just the two of us... " Alex burst into tears, which seemed to make her even angrier. Scott reached out to her and pulled her into a hug. Alex tensed at first, then relaxed into the embrace as she burst into hysterical crying. Scott just stood there and held her, rubbing her back and just letting her get it all out. After about ten minutes her sobs started to become less frequent until they were replaced by her occasional rapid intake of breath as her body tried to recover from her hysterics.

"I'm sorry," Alex said as she pushed herself away from Scott and wiped the tears and snot from her face.

"Don't be," Scott said with a smile. "Glad I could be here for you."

"I got your shirt all wet," she said.

"It's not the first time, Alexandra," Scott said, remembering all the times she'd cried as a small child. As she got older, she cried less and less, at least that Scott had seen, though admittedly he wasn't around very much.

"Well, thank you," Alex said. "I don't know what came over me. I just keep hearing her screaming _at_ me, like I was the one hurting her or something. I would never hurt her," Alex's voice was a whisper by the end of the sentence.

As much as he wanted to, Scott knew better than to test the tenuous bond that had just been created between them so he remained where he was and didn't try to comfort her. "I'm sure she _knows_ that, Alex. The doctor said it's like any other dream - her mind is trying to work something out and it _sounds_ like one thing to you, but in her brain it's something else completely," Scott said. "I know it's hard, but try not to take it personally. No one can control what happens in their dreams. You'll see. She'll wake up tomorrow and it will be like nothing ever happened - because to her, it hasn't."

Scott looked around the room while he was waiting for Alex to respond. His eyes fell on the worn copy of Little Women sitting next to Alex's bed.

"Still reading that old thing, I see," Scott said with a smile. Alex's eyes followed his to the bedside table. "You never were one to quit on a book just because it wasn't pretty anymore," he joked.

Alex smiled faintly. "Remember that copy of Charlotte's Web I used to take with me down to the pig pen every day and read to Mr. Wiggles? By the time he was grown the cover had completely fallen off, pages were falling out and he'd chewed on part of it so the corners of the pages were missing," she laughed a little at the memory.

"Yes, I remember you taking that book down there everyday and reading it to him, but I seem to remember him _knocking_ you over and _taking_ the book out of your hands - _that's_ how he ate the corners of the pages. By the time you wrestled it away from him he'd already eaten half the book," Scott recalled, laughing out loud at the pig eating the book.

Alex let out a genuine laugh and Scott almost cried. He'd almost forgotten how beautiful the sound was. He smiled at her broadly and Alex tentatively closed the distance between them, coming to a stop once they were face to face. "I remember that," she said. "Mr. Wiggles knocked me into the mud on my butt and stole the book from me… you and Jake just stood there and laughed your butts off."

"Yes, we did, but I also remember us helping you out of the mud and cornering that damn pig so you could get it back," Scott said fondly.

"Yeah, you did," Alex conceded. They both stood there quietly for a few minutes before Alex said softly, "Thanks."

"For what," Scott asked, slightly confused.

"For being here," Alex said.

"I can't tell you how glad I am to be _able_ to be here for you," he said honestly. "There were many days that I thought we wouldn't make it back." As he said the last five words in the sentence, Scott watched Alex's expression morph from being open and relaxed back to hardened and cold like when he first talked to her. Just like that, the progress they'd made seemed to disappear.

"Well, thanks. I should really try to get back to sleep. Everyday around here is a long fucking day," she said as she took several steps back from Scott and closer to her bed.

"Alright, Alex. We.. I'm just down the hall if you need me," Scott added. Alex didn't say anything so Scott closed the door behind him and returned to Christine and Joey.

"Everything alright," Christine asked him when he quietly snuck back into their room.

"That little girl is having night terrors, screaming at Alex to stop something. The doc gave her something to sleep, but it messed with Alex's head pretty good. She let me hold her while she cried about it," Scott told her with a wistful smile.

"That's progress," Christine said. "She'll come around eventually, my love. She just needs time." Christine had placed Joey to sleep in the hospital crib that had been set up in the room and she moved to one side of her bed so Scott could join her. "She's a very strong willed young woman, your Alex. She reminds me a bit of myself at her age - too smart for her own good and too proud to learn anything the easy way," Christine said with a little laugh. "She's just going to have to stumble through things to learn her lessons, just like we all did."

"Well, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree on that front. Her mother was one of the stubbornest people I ever met," Scott said as he got settled in next to her on the bed.

"I don't know about that," Christine replied. "Seems like you gave her a pretty good run for her money. In any case, the only thing that will bring Alex around is time," she said as she snuggled into Scott's chest.

"I know. Unfortunately, it's the one thing we may not have enough of," Scott said sadly as he wrapped her arms around her and settled in for the night.

§

Sally woke up screaming two more times that night. Each time it was the same scream, each time Alex flew out of bed and to Sally's bedside and each time Sally succeeded in hitting her several times before Alex was pulled away by Dr. Benson. The third time, Dr. Benson gave in and administered a full adult dosage to Sally. She'd ripped out her IV in her thrashing and they had to hold her down to administer the shot directly to her arm. Once she was back asleep, Nurse Cindy put the IV back in and taped it down better than before.

Alex managed to get about three hours of sleep the entire night. When the first light of dawn began creeping through the window, she got dressed and headed to the house. Dr. Benson had promised her that the dosage he'd given Sally would keep her asleep for at least six hours and Cindy had promised to tell Sally what was going on if she woke before Alex was able to return.

"Hey there, sunshine," Jake greeted as she walked in the front door. He was already dressed and pulling on his boots. "Was jus' gettin' ready ta come check on ya," he said as he looked up and got a better look at her face. "What tha hell happened to yer face," he asked.

Alex slumped down on the couch next to him. "Sally woke up screamin' bloody murder every hour or two. Dr. Benson gave her a shot of something each time but it was only working on her for about an hour, two at the most. He finally gave her a full adult dosage in hopes it would keep her asleep for the rest of the night. Said he doesn't want to put her back on the sedatives that he used to keep her asleep before, said there's a drug they use specifically on night terrors, but it builds up in the system and you build up a tolerance after a while. He's convinced that the best thing for her is to talk about it," Alex said. Jake circled his arm around her shoulders and hugged her as he leaned them back on the couch.

"She just kept screamin, 'No! Alex! Stop!' every time. The same exact words, same exact terrified expression on her face. She couldn't hear me or see me, even though her eyes were open... I tried to help her and she just kept hitting me," Alex let out a long sigh and a few tears rolled down her cheek.

"I'm sorry," Jake said. "'S not like she could control it, if she thought she was dreamin'," he said.

"I know. That's what Dr. Benson said too. Said that just like any other dream her brain is working things out that seem like one thing but are really another, or somethin'. All I know is that it was fuckin' horrible to hear her scream like that. I don't know if I can take another night like that," Alex said sadly. "I want to be there for her, but when she's screamin', tellin' me to stop… makes me feel like I _shouldn't_ be there."

"Well, we'll talk to Dr. Benson later today and see if we can figure somethin' out," Jake said, giving her another squeeze. "Let's get you in the shower. It ain't much, but it's somethin'. I gotta run down ta tha barn fer a few minutes. Should be back by the time yer all dressed an' ready." Jake got up from the couch and pulled Alex up after him. They walked together upstairs and Jake got the shower started to warm the water while Alex grabbed her clothes. He gave her a quick kiss when she returned to the bathroom before giving her privacy and heading to the barn.

After a much too short shower, Alex hurried downstairs to begin picking up. She and Jake didn't really make a mess, per se, but there were guns and knives and cleaning tools laying around everywhere, in addition to their packs and miscellaneous gear strewn about. Alex put everything in the gun room, making sure to put everything back in it's designated space and neatly piled the rest of their stuff near the door.

As she finished, Jake and the cleaning crew arrived. "Brought ya breakfast," Jake said, setting the plates down on the kitchen counter. "Betty said ta make sure ya eat it all, she thinks yer gettin' too skinny - she said it, not me! Gave me extra bacon an' french toast fer ya."

"Thank you," Alex said gratefully. "I probably would have forgotten to eat altogether if you hadn't brought me something." She began stuffing food in her mouth like she hadn't eaten in days.

"What," she said through a full mouth when she noticed Jake looking at her funny.

He shook his head, amused. "Nothin'. Jus' watchin' ya eat like a feral animal."

"I'm starvin' I guess. Plus I gotta get back out there and help with the cleaning," she said after swallowing a large bite.

"Ain't no use ta us if ya choke on yer bacon," he teased. "Jus' take yer time. Got plenty of hands 'round here ta help out," he said.

When she finally finished her food, most of the work was complete. Alex helped put the finishing touches on a few things and then they all headed to the kitchen, where Norma explained to them what she and Betty needed in order for things to run smoothly that evening. When she finished explaining, Alex addressed the group.

"You guys have done so much already. I can take care of this by myself. It's easier - it's my kitchen and I know where everything is. I can finish this up and you guys can take off," she offered.

"Are you sure, deary? I can stay and help you," Norma said.

Alex shook her head. "I'm sure I've got it," Alex said. "You have some cooking to do, don't you," Alex asked the elderly woman. Norma nodded. "Well, you take care of that and I will make sure this kitchen is ready for you, deal," Alex said.

"Deal," Norma agreed.

The group filed out of the kitchen and out the front door. Jake followed suit, telling Alex that he would be back in a couple of hours if he didn't see her sooner down at the barn. Alex got down to business, setting everything up according to Norma's specifications. Alex made sure the counters were spotless and everything was in it's place before she called it quits. She stood in the doorway to the living area and inspected the group's work.

The furniture had been rearranged, things that could be used for seating were neatly situated along the walls and anything that was not being used for the party was moved to the back porch. They had staged folding chairs around the room as well and set up tables for the food. With the house as ready for the party as it was going to be, Alex headed to the barn to start on Zach's chores.

She started with the horse stalls. She hadn't mucked them the previous day and they were in a right state after a few days of neglect. Alex moved the horses from the stalls to the eastern pasture and then returned to begin the dirty job she'd been doing since she was nine years old. She'd gotten through three of six stalls when Zach showed up holding a shovel, a huge grin plastered to his face.

"Thought I'd come relieve you of your doody duty," Zach said with a laugh. "Thanks for letting me sleep in. I feel like a million bucks, just from a little sleep."

Alex shook her head at him. "No you don't. You got the whole day off, go do something with it," she insisted.

"It's not like I can go to the movies with my friends for the afternoon or hang out in town. I'd rather be here, helping out and doing something useful around here," Zach replied.

Alex couldn't argue with the kid, he had a point. "Alright, fine. You can _help_ ," she acquiesced. Zach nodded and flashed his stupid grin at her before trotting off to start on the next stall. They ended up meeting in the sixth and final stall and they worked together to knock it out quickly.

"You want me to go round up the next group to put in the stalls," Zach asked.

"Nope. We can go together. I said _help_ , not do it all yourself," Alex reminded him.

They trotted off in the direction of the pasture without talking. At the pasture, each silently picked a horse to ride bareback and then they cut out the six that would be worked/ridden over the next two days, driving them back to the barn and into the stalls. Then they returned to the eastern pasture to move the rest of the horses to the southern pasture for grazing. After about an hour the job was complete and they shuffled out of the barn to see everyone sitting for lunch at the picnic tables outside the bunkhouse. They got in line to get their plates with everyone else and joined their usual group at a table.

"How's the day goin'," Alex asked the group. "Everythin' ready for tonight?"

"Good. Food's taken care of and cooking as we speak, Hernandez gave us a list of the names of the people they lost on their way here and James is carving the names into a board that we are going to nail to a tree in the grove… figured we could add the names of those we've lost that we can't bury," Ellie said.

"That's a good idea," Alex said.

"Other than that, we've got the patrols all figured out. All the day shifts are over at 3 p.m., dinner at the house will be at 5 p.m. and the service should start a little after 6 p.m. Then dessert and drinks afterwards back at the house. Am I forgetting anything," Ellie said to Tim.

"Nope. That's everythin'. Should go as smooth as anythin' ever does," Tim said. He was clearly not in the best mood, likely because of the service.

"Is there anything else you guys need me to do," Alex asked. "If not, I think I might try to sneak in a little nap… Sally had a pretty bad night last night and I was up for most of it," she explained.

"I don't see any reason for you not to," Tim said. "We've got things taken care of for now."

"Excellent. Then I'll stop by the clinic and check in on her before I head to the house," she said.

"Speakin' of tha clinic," Jake said, "I talked ta Scott last night 'bout defensive strategy. He said he'd be happy ta talk ta us 'bout everythin' they saw out there. Told him sometime in tha next couple of days would be best."

"That's good. Did you talk to him about takin' a seat on the council," Tim asked.

"I did. Scott said he couldn't think about that right now, that his biggest concern was Joey gettin' better. Told him that I understood an' that if he changed his mind there would always be a seat fer him," Jake explained.

"Any news on how his boy is doin'," Tim asked.

"Not really. Dr. Benson said last night that he's eatin' well but so far nothin' in tha tests explains what's wrong with him. Said they'll pump calories inta Christine an' hope that it's enough fer 'im… said he wanted ta give him formula as a supplement, but everythin' is expired by now. Gonna go check on them when we're done here," Jake said.

Alex was quiet through this exchange, suddenly very interested in the cornbread on her plate. Zach noticed and started a muted conversation with her.

"So what happened last night," he asked. "I went to see Sally this morning like I promised and Dr. Benson said she'd probably be sleeping for most of the day and he wouldn't let me in to see her. Is she alright?"

Alex took a deep breath. "She's physically alright I suppose. Her head is pretty fucked up, though. She was having night terrors, that's what Dr. Benson called them. Says she looks awake but she's only seeing what she's dreamin' about. She was screamin' at me to stop… I don't know _what_ she was dreamin'."

"That what happened to your face," Zach asked.

Alex nodded. "Yeah. I was tryin' to comfort her, get close enough so she could hear me, but she just kept hitting me. I didn't even notice until this morning when Dr. Benson said something to me about it before I left," Alex said.

Alex noticed that the group had quieted. "Sally did that to you," Ellie asked with surprise.

Alex nodded. "She was havin' a nightmare, didn't know what she was doin,'" Alex explained. Alex didn't want to talk about this anymore. It was bad enough witnessing it herself first hand; she didn't want to relive the experience to answer everyone questions. Questions that she didn't have any answers to. She picked up her plate and pushed herself up from the table.

"Well, I'm beat. I'm gonna head over to the clinic so I can get started on that nap," Alex announced. She didn't wait for anyone to respond, she just deposited her plate and silverware in the dish tub and started walking to the clinic. She'd only gone a few steps when she heard heavy footfalls behind her.

"Hey, Alex! Wait up," Zach called. He trotted up to her and fell into step with her. "Jake's comin' too," he said.

Jake caught up with them before too long and the three of them once again walked in silence to the clinic. Inside it was quiet, almost eerily quiet to Alex. They found Dr. Benson talking with Doc and Scott in Dr. Benson's office.

"Hey, guys. Come on in. We were just talking about getting Scott, Christine and Joey settled in here more permanently," Dr. Benson said amicably.

"What's wrong? Is it Joey," Jake asked.

"No, nothing like that," Scott said. "Not exactly, at least. Joey is going to need to stay close to the good doctor here, at least for a while. I don't want to take him to one of those trailers, not in the condition he's in right now."

"Who said ya gotta live in a trailer," Jake asked. "Figured ya'll would come an' live in tha house with us," Jake said. He and Alex hadn't even discussed it, but Jake really didn't see that there was a conversation to be had. It was Scott's house, plain and simple.

"Nobody said anything about anything," Scott said quickly. "I was just thinking about it this morning after talking to Dr. Benson about the outlook on Joey's care. We have to stay together, but I don't want to take up room that might be needed for someone else. It just makes sense for us to move to one of the bedrooms upstairs. That way we're onsite but out of the way," he explained.

"Well, yer welcome at tha house. There's plenty of room, it's just me an' Alex an' Sally," Jake said.

"Thank you, Jake. I will keep it in mind. For right now though, I think this is the best move for all of us," Scott said.

"Alright," Jake answered. "So what can we do to help," he asked.

"Nothing right now," Scott said. "We were just talking. Realistically, it'll still be a while before Christine will be up to taking the stairs all the time."

Alex had stayed a little removed from the group as they were talking. She was pissed that Jake just assumed that they would be welcome at the house. How was she supposed to avoid having anything to do with them if they were living under the same fucking roof?

"Hey, doctor," Alex blurted out, interrupting the conversation of the others, "Can I go see Sally?"

Everyone turned and looked at her. "What? That's what I came here for, to see Sally." She held back the rest of her sentence - I don't give a shit about where they live - knowing that it would surely start a fight. "So, can I?"

"Um. Yes, you can see her," Dr. Benson said, confused by Alex's rudeness. "She's still asleep, but the meds should be wearing off very soon."

"Thanks," Alex said as she turned towards Sally's room.

"We need to talk about what to do with her," Dr. Benson said to Alex's back.

She spun around. "What do you mean _what_ to do with her," Alex asked. "I thought there wasn't anything to do other than wait and try to get her to talk."

"That is true, yes. But in the immediate future, she's going to need medication to sleep until we can figure out how to help her with this," he explained.

"Well, what is there to discuss then," Alex questioned. "You give her the medicine she needs to sleep and we'll make sure she starts talking when she's awake."

"What else is there ta be considered," Jake asked, giving Alex a look.

"Well, I guess my real concern was that Sally should stay here as long as she is having these night terrors. Right now she is a danger to herself and to others when she's in that state. If she's here we can secure her so that she can't hurt herself," he explained.

"What, like strap her to the bed," Alex asked in shock. "No, no way. You can't tie her up, not after what happened to her. That will make it worse. She was tied up most of the time she was with that fucker. If you tie her down here, I guarantee it will only make her worse and she'll probably try to run again," Alex said angrily.

"No one's sayin' that, Al," Jake said. "The doctor's just makin' a suggestion. He's concerned fer her safety. Ya can't be upset with him fer that. But I agree that she can't be tied or strapped down, not unless it's absolutely necessary, an' I don't think we're there just yet," he said to the doctor.

"I have an idea," Alex said, clearly irritated. "Why don't we wait and ask Sally what _she_ wants? She's not retarded or brain damaged. She's capable of telling us what she wants us to do."

"That's fine with me," Dr. Benson said. "I'm just concerned that she may not truly understand what is going on."

"Well, I guess you'll just have to explain it to her in words she can understand," Alex said.

§

Sally's head was pounding. Her eyes were overpowered by the amount of light streaming into the room and she couldn't get them to focus. Slowly, she rolled over in her bed away from the bright light and tried again to get her eyes to focus on something. As she did, she felt the sharp pain in her ribs and the general ache of the rest of her body. As Sally's eyes slowly began to slide into focus, memories started coming back - why she was here, what she'd done to Kara and then to herself. And that man. That horrible, horrible man. She could see his face everytime she closed her eyes, smell his putrid breath every time she breathed in and feel his hands on her making her skin crawl. Her breathing began to quicken and soon she was having a full blown panic attack.

Sally didn't know what to do. The more she tried to control her breathing the harder it got to breath and she found herself in a panic spiral - the more she tried to calm down and failed the more panicked she got. She started to feel lightheaded, and there was a weight on her chest like someone was sitting on her and she couldn't take a breath. She began flailing her arms about, looking for something, anything that would help her get someone's attention. She was going to die, she knew it.

Her hand hit something on the bedside table and a crash resounded through the room. Sally still couldn't breath right… if she could just get enough air to scream…

She heard the door open and made out the figure of a man coming towards her… her vision was blurry but she didn't know why. The man was reaching out for her and saying something that Sally couldn't quite make out.

"...okay… relax… count… breathe…" were the words that she picked out through the haze. The man was kneeling in front of her, close enough for her to make out his face… but it couldn't be him… he was dead…

"Sally, I need you to look at me," she heard Scott say. She forced her eyes to focus on the face in front of her… it _was_ Scott… but Alex's dad didn't make it…

"I'm going to start counting backwards from twenty and I want you to try to breathe on my count, can you try that for me," he asked her. Sally tried to nod but she couldn't think about anything other than trying to get air.

Scott took Sally's hand in his and gave it a little squeeze each time he said another number, signalling Sally to inhale and exhale. It seemed like it took forever, but Sally's breath soon came easier and slower, she was able to take deeper breaths and the lightheaded feeling dissipated. Scott continued to hold her hand and countdown until he reached zero.

"That's better," he said, bringing his other hand to her hair and smoothing it down for her in a soothing manner. "Can you take a big, deep breath for me," he asked her. Sally nodded and took a deep breath, inflating her lungs to full capacity. "Let it out slowly," Scott cautioned. Sally did, and repeated the action two more times when Scott asked her to.

"You gave me quite the scare, little lady," Scott said. "I don't know if you remember me," he started, but Sally nodded her head.

"You're Alex's dad… I remember you from dinner parties at my house when I was little," Sally answered. "I thought you were dead, that's what Alex said."

"Believe me, there were lots of times I thought I was dead too," Scott said. "But somehow I made it back and just in time, too," Scott said.

"Why's that," Sally asked him.

"My little boy's really sick… Dr. Benson said if we'd been out there any longer I would have lost him and his mother," Scott explained.

Sally was confused. Alex never said anything about her parents getting divorced before the turn or about her dad having another kid. Scott noticed the confused look on her face.

"I supposed Alex didn't tell you about us, did she," he asked. Sally shook her head.

"Well, since I'm here now I might as well explain it to you," he said. Scott pulled a chair over and sat in it instead of kneeling on the floor. He pulled the chair close and took Sally's hand back in his. "Long story short is I have a son, his name is Joey. He was born a couple of weeks before his mom and I had to flee from where we were living, in a military bunker near San Francisco. Took us a couple of months to get here… we lost a lot of people along the way."

"Joey is just a baby," Sally asked.

"Yep. He's been sick since we hit the road and so far the doctor can't figure out what's wrong with him. But he's gaining weight now that we are safe and well fed. We're cautiously optimistic, as my doctor used to say," Scott explained.

"Alex told me that she found some new people and that there was a baby… but she didn't tell me that it was her brother," Sally said, disappointment evident in her voice.

"Well, I wouldn't take it personally. Alex doesn't seem too thrilled to have a baby brother. Actually, she doesn't seem all that thrilled to have me back either," Scott said with a sad smile. "Suppose it's a difficult thing to wrap your brain around - someone coming back into your life six months after you've already mourned them as dead… I just hope she comes around eventually."

Sally was quiet for a few minutes, thinking about that… she would give anything to have one of her parents show up, still alive. What was Alex's problem? Why would she be _unhappy_ to have her dad back _and_ a little brother? It didn't make any sense to Sally.

"Can I meet him," she asked Scott.

"Joey? He's not much to meet, just yet," Scott said. "But I'd be happy to bring him by sometime, or have you come by to see him. How are you feeling, any better," he asked.

"Yes," Sally said. "Much better. I'm so glad you were here."

"Me too. It was lucky that I happened to be walking by when I heard the crash," he said. Scott looked at the ground. "Looks like you weren't a fan of today's lunch," he said. When she'd flailed her arms she'd knocked the lunch tray that someone had placed on the table to the floor. Sally looked past Scott to the mess on the floor. Scott followed her gaze and figured what she was thinking.

"Don't worry about it. If you hadn't knocked it down, I wouldn't have known to come in and check on you. It's just soup, won't take long to clean up at all," he said kindly.

At that moment, Dr. Benson, Nurse Cindy, Alex, Jake and Zach all came in. They all paused when they saw Scott already in the room and the food tray on the floor.

"What happened," Alex said as she crossed over to Sally's bedside.

"Nothin'," Sally lied. "I accidentally knocked over the tray. Scott heard it and came to check on me." Sally didn't know why she lied, it was just the first thing that popped into her head.

Scott looked at her for a moment, but didn't elaborate on her story. "I was just reassuring her that it wasn't a big deal and we'd get it cleaned up in a jiffy," Scott said. "Well, looks like you've got a full house, kiddo," Scott said to Sally. "I'll just leave you to it."

Sally refused to let his hand go. "Will you come back later," she asked him.

"Of course," Scott answered. "I'll swing back by in a little while." He gave her hand a last squeeze before he stood up and walked out of the room.

The others just stood there looking at Sally like she'd grown a second head. "What," she said in annoyance. Her voice seemed to wake them up and they began creeping closer to her bed.

"How are you feeling, Sally," Dr. Benson asked as he began taking her vitals.

"Fine," she lied again. Sally had never been a liar, and she wasn't sure why, but for some reason her brain just told her to lie.

"Are you having any dizziness, headaches, anything new to report," he asked her as he felt the tender area on the back of her head and then stuck his bony fingers in between her ribs making her wince.

"Nothin' new to report, I'm still fucked up and everything still hurts," Sally said tartly.

"Well, that's to be expected," Dr. Benson said, missing the venom in Sally's voice. "What about last night? Do you remember any of your dreams," he asked.

Sally remembered _something_ about last night, but it was all kinda foggy. She remembered being terrified of something or someone that was attacking her and she couldn't get away. Sally kept running the broken images through her mind like some fucked up picture show. There was something about Alex… she was running… no, _chasing_ after her and yelling her name. But that's all she could piece together. She remembered the feelings from the dream but she couldn't piece together any more of the story.

"Not really… I can't remember much. Just somethin' about Alex chasing me and being really scared," she told them. The adults all looked around at each other like her words held more meaning to them or something.

"What," she asked when no one said anything. Sally continued to search their faces for any hint of what it was they were really asking her and that's when she noticed the bruising on Alex's face.

"What happened to your face," Sally asked her, having finally noticed the telltale signs

of a black eye forming around Alex's left eye.

Alex blanched. "When you were having the nightmare last night I tried to help you, tried to wake you up…" Alex's voice trailed off.

"I did that," Sally asked quietly.

"I know you didn't mean to," Alex quickly added. "You didn't know what you were doing. It's okay," Alex said.

"It's quite common for people having night terrors to react violently to the images they are seeing in their dreams," Dr. Benson explained. "It's my understanding that people suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, like yourself, frequently have this symptom. For some it never goes away, for others it lasts for a while then goes away. Much of the research I am familiar with suggests the people whose symptoms went away were actively participating in talk therapy, both individual and group. I think it's really important that you talk about what happened, Sally," Dr. Benson told her. Sally figured the man was right, she had no reason to doubt him, but she still didn't want to talk to him.

When Sally didn't say anything, Alex added, "Sally, you can always talk to me about it," Alex said. There was something in her voice that didn't sit right with Sally, something that she'd never heard in her voice before. She couldn't put a word to it, though and she continued her selective mutism.

"I'm going to keep talking to you about talking about it," Dr. Benson told Sally. "In the meantime, we were discussing how to best help you given the particular issues you are having right now."

"You mean how to help the crazy girl who beats on people in her sleep," Sally snarked.

"Well, yes," Dr. Benson said. "You aren't crazy, but you are having sleep issues that will make it difficult for you to sleep at home… you could sleepwalk or, worst case scenario, attack someone in your sleep - it has happened."

"So you want me to stay here," Sally asked him.

"I think it would be best if you stayed here for the time being, yes," Dr. Benson agreed.

"So you're gonna tie me to the bed or something," she asked quietly.

"No, he's not going to tie you to the fucking bed," Alex said with venom aimed at the doctor.

"No, I think we may be able to avoid strapping you down," Dr. Benson said. "We can try a couple of things that have worked for sleepwalkers in the past, see if anything works for you. But I think we should really start pressing for some sort of therapy, even if that means you just sit there and stare at the other person."

"Do you have someone in mind, doctor," Alex asked.

"Actually, no. I don't think we have anyone here that used to work in the field of psychiatry. But I'm talking with Doc Hobbs, we're compiling a list of people here that might be able to fill the roll," he said.

"Wouldn't it be better if it was someone she actually _wants_ to talk to," Alex asked.

"Would you stop talkin' about me like I'm not in the damn room," Sally said angrily. She was getting increasingly angry at Alex, something about her voice was just rubbing her the wrong way. And she was tired of Dr. Benson telling her what she needed to do.

"I don't wanna talk to you or anyone else," she said to the doctor. "Can't you all just leave me alone? Everything fuckin' hurts, _thinkin'_ hurts. I just wanna be left alone."

"We can't just leave you alone," Alex said. "We're worried about you, we just want to help you," Alex argued.

"I DON'T WANT YOUR FUCKIN' HELP," Sally screamed. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FUCKIN' FAULT, ALEX! JUST GET OUT!" Until the words came out of her mouth, Sally hadn't actively blamed Alex for her predicament, but apparently her subconscious had already come to the conclusion.

Alex was visibly shaken at Sally's words. She took a couple of steps back, as if the words had physically hit her. She stared at Sally with tears in her eyes and Jake inched closer to her, ready for whatever might happen next. Alex blinked and took a deep breath and just stood there for a moment.

"I'm sorry," Alex whispered before she turned and quickly exited the room.

"Sally, ya can't hold this against Al. She-" Jake started, but was quickly interrupted by Sally.

"She what, didn't mean to get me kidnapped and molested by that fucking creep that liked to bite little girls? Of course she didn't. She just assumed that the two of us could take on a whole fucking camp of asshole rapists," Sally said acidly.

"Sally, ya know she did tha best she could," Jake said.

"Well, her best is shit. LOOK WHAT SHE DID TO ME," Sally screamed at him.

"Alex didn't do anythin' to ya, Sally. That was all-" Jake was cut off before he could finished the sentence.

"Don't you fucking _dare_ say that sick fuck's name," Sally warned Jake menacingly.

Dr. Benson was unhappy with how quickly things had escalated out of control. "Alright, let's all just calm down. Jake, why don't you and Zach go ahead and go, I'm just going to check a couple more things and then we'll let Sally get some rest."

Jake and Zach followed the doctor's orders and filed out of the room, both looking defeated. Sally felt bad that Zach had been included in her little outburst. The doctor poked her a couple more times and then checked on her IV bags to make sure they didn't need replacing.

"I'm going to start you on real food tomorrow," Dr. Benson said as he started towards the door. "And you've got one more day of bed rest before I kick you out into the sunshine. Moping around isn't going to help anything at all. You can be mad all you want, but ultimately you are the only one that can fix yourself," he said.

"Hey, doctor," Sally called after him as he reached the door. He paused and turned to face her. "If you see Zach out there, will you tell him to come back, please," she asked.

"Of course," he said before closing the door behind him.

Sally hadn't meant to blow up and yell at Alex, but her voice was just grating in Sally's head and something about the way she was acting and talking had just set her off. Sally couldn't really figure out what was going on in her head, but she knew that she didn't want Alex around right now.

Maybe talking to Zach would take her mind off of it.


	13. Chapter 13 - Clouds of Delusion

8

Alex walked out of Sally's room with her spirit crushed. She'd known that it was her fault that Sally got taken, already started berating herself mentally for her own stupidity and hubris, but to hear it screamed from Sally's mouth was devastating. She blindly walked out of the clinic and started walking; the echoes of Sally's accusation resounding in her head.

Alex wasn't paying attention and she tripped over a rock, landing hard on her hands and knees. She didn't bother to get up, instead opting to just lay there in the dirt. It seemed appropriate since she felt about as low as dirt.

"Come on, let's getcha up, Al," Jake said as he and Zach walked up behind her. They each took an armpit and pulled her up to standing. Alex just stood there, crying. Jake supported her, since it didn't seem like her legs were very steady at the moment. Just then, Nurse Cindy came jogging up to them.

"Hey guys! Zach, Dr. Benson asked me to come get you," she said between breaths.

"Oh. Okay. Did he say why," Zach asked curiously.

"Um, he said Sally was asking for you," she answered awkwardly. Alex looked up at that. Cindy noticed and quickly added, "Sorry, she just asked for Zach." Alex sunk back into Jake's side.

Zach looked at Jake and Alex, like he was going to say something, but Jake shook his head slightly and Zach took the hint. He turned and walked back to the clinic with Cindy.

"Alrigh', let's getcha home," Jake said, scooping Alex up into his arms and carrying her like a child.

§

"Hey, you wanted to see me," Zach asked when he entered Sally's room.

"Hi, thanks for coming back," Sally said. "I'm sorry about before."

"What, the yelling and screaming? Don't worry about it. I've heard worse," he said with a grin. He was trying to make her laugh, she could tell. Sally offered him a small smile.

"Besides, it seems pretty normal to me that you would need to do some yelling and screaming. I mean, I don't know what exactly happened out there, but it's obvious that at the very least you had the shit beat out of you - in my book that's more than enough reason to scream and yell," Zach said.

"You can sit down if you want," Sally said. Zach nodded and pulled a chair up to her bedside. "Will you tell me the story about the frog now," she asked him. She needed to think about something, anything, other than Alex right now.

"Sure," Zach said, his face lighting up at the prospect of retelling his story. He settled into the chair and began animatedly telling Sally all about the frog, the bird and the horse.

§

Back at the house, Jake got Alex into bed and sat with her until she fell asleep. He still had things to take care of to get ready for the service and celebration this evening, so he wrote Alex a note, left it on the nightstand where she would be certain to see it and then he walked to the barn.

When he returned to the house hours later, Alex was still sound asleep. He hated to do it, she really needed the rest, but he had to wake her for the evening's events. He woke her gently shortly before dinner began. She was quiet and sullen, but she dressed herself and followed Jake dutifully down to the dinner party that was starting in their living room.

Betty and Norma had outdone themselves. They had whipped up a finger food feast so that everyone could easily eat standing up. People wound their way around the food tables and piled food on their plates, encouraged by Betty and Norma to take as much as they wanted. Alex filed through the line and put enough food on her plate so that the two ladies wouldn't chide her into taking more, but she really didn't have the stomach for eating right now. She quietly made her way out to the porch and sat on the bench seat, avoiding making eye contact with anyone by staring intently at the food on her plate.

Zach had just arrived and he noticed Alex sitting alone. He approached her hesitantly.

"Hey, Alex," Zach said, unsure of what to say next.

Alex looked up at him after a moment. "Hey," she grunted at him before looking back at her food.

"How are you feeling, did you get your nap," he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said shortly, not even bothering to look up.

Zach could tell she was upset with him. Alex was pretty easy to read when she was angry. "Well, I just thought you might want to know that Sally seems to be doing a little better… we talked about Billy for a little while and she even told me a story about him that she said I could share for her at the memorial service," he told her.

"Great," Alex replied. She still wouldn't look away from her plate.

"You know, you really should get over yourself," Zach said, driven to speak his mind by Alex's childish behavior. "Sally's the twelve year old who was molested and violently beaten, not you. You should be happy that she's alive and talking instead of being pissy that she isn't talking to you," Zach told her before he headed inside to get his own plate of food. Alex didn't even look like she registered his words.

§

After everyone had eaten more than their fill, they walked down to the little grove that had become the cemetery for those they lost. The group silently filed into the clearing and waited. When everyone was finally present, Jake addressed the crowd.

"Ya'll know why we're here; we lost a brother, friend, leader and a fine specimen of a man in Billy Jenkins," Jake started. A small wave of laughter rolled through the group at his joke. "In this world, we are lucky ta have found each other an' made it this far. It's cuz of tha relentless work that Billy an' his brother put inta makin' this place what it is that we can enjoy a good night's sleep an' eat food that ain't outta a can. I've known Billy a long time an' I know he was proud of what we've done here, proud of all of ya fer workin' so hard everyday ta make this place a success. Alex an' I wanted ta help people, bring people here ta give 'em a safe place in this hell, an' we wouldn'ta been able ta do any of this without help from Billy an' Tim. Billy was a great man an' a great friend, an' I'm gonna miss 'im," Jake paused for a moment to collect himself.

"Tim has a few thangs ta say before we open it up ta everyone ta share their thoughts an' stories 'bout Billy. Tim," Jake said, giving Tim the floor. Tim came forward from his place next to Ellie and calmly faced the crowd.

"Ya'll know how close Billy an' I were. Our momma always said we were twins that had been born two years apart. We've been through hell together and I never thought there would be a day that I would have to make my way through the world without Billy by my side. He was my best friend and I honestly don't know what I'm gonna do without him." Tim paused, trying to get his emotions in check. "But I'm glad that I'm here with all of you. I know that buildin' this place into a community was somethin' that Billy was proud of and I'm givin' you all my word that I will do my best to honor his memory by continuin' to make this a safe place for our group to not just survive, but live. It was important to Billy that we continue to live our lives, not just survive day to day. That's why we thought it was important to celebrate Billy's life and not mourn his death. It's what he would want," he paused and took a breath. "Does anyone have anything they'd like to share," Tim asked the group.

Hands started popping up, Tim acknowledged the first one he saw and they slowly went around the group sharing their memories and stories of Billy and how he'd impacted each person's life. Both Tim and Ellie were overcome with emotion and each sat quietly crying into the other's shoulder while people spoke.

Eventually, Jake, who'd taken over from Tim, called on Zach to say his piece. "I didn't know Billy very well before the turn, but he became like a brother to me in the months since. I can't tell you the number of times Billy taught me something that would save my life. But we all have those stories," he said as he smiled at the group. "I really wanted to share a story that isn't mine, but a friend's who wasn't able to make it tonight. Sally shared this story with me and I thought it perfectly summed up who Billy was to us." Zach pulled out a piece of paper and began to read:

When I first arrived here, I had just lost my little brother and I didn't have anyone at all. Jake and Alex took me in, and Billy made sure that I felt at home, always joking and teasing like a big brother would. Eventually, when I started to learn more and was given more responsibility, I knew I could always ask Billy and he wouldn't laugh or get upset with me. A few days after I had been assigned to horse duty, I was in the stall working with one of the horses and I just couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. I tried everything I could think of while Billy watched from afar. After a few minutes watching me fumble around Billy came over and asked me what was wrong. I frustratedly told him the few clues I'd picked up on and he began asking me questions. At first I couldn't figure out what he was doing, and I really started to get irritated with him.

I later realized that he was leading me to the answer, teaching me the right questions to ask so I could rule things out and come to my own conclusion. When I finally figured out that one of the horses' shoes was not on right, he explained to me how to fix it, instead of doing it for me. Billy was always like that - he was an excellent teacher and I learned so much from him. I don't know how long I'll make it in this world, but I know that I everyday I take another breath I will use something that I learned from Billy.

The crowd was quiet as Zach finished reading, heads nodding in agreement at Sally's words. Zach looked around, smiled awkwardly at everyone and took his place back amongst the crowd. They continued like that for the better part of an hour, each person taking a turn to talk about how Billy affected them personally. It was very emotional and moving. Ellie excused herself after listening to a handful of people talk. It was just too much for her and she needed a break. Amy followed her to offer her support.

When everyone had finally said their piece Jake addressed the group again. "I'm sure by now you've all had a chance ta meet tha newest members of our group. As many of ya know, their group suffered a number of losses before we found 'em. We've asked them ta share tha names of their dead an' any stories they'd like ta tell 'bout them. Scott, yer up," Jake said.

Scott had been waiting with the rest of his group near the back of the crowd. He'd spoken a few words about Billy and made sure to praise the work that he'd done to ensure people here could do more than survive. This time he held a wrinkled piece of paper in his hand and his voice was slightly shakier than when he previously addressed the crowd. Scott went through the names of the deceased, how each person had been lost and what they had meant to their group. When he finished, several other members of his group shared stories and then James presented them with the board he'd carved the names of their lost party members into. Scott was visibly moved. He skipped shaking James' hand and pulled the large man into a hug. James hugged the man back and offered to hang the board from a nearby tree for them. Scott nodded his acceptance.

Jake took over once again. "Alright. Well, if no one has anythin' else ta say, there's dessert an' a little booze up at tha house fer everyone. Fer those of ya on tha next watch, ya volunteered fer this shift, so be smart an' don't over indulge." With that, the group was dismissed and they somberly walked back to the main house.

§

Alex had attended the service, but she stood in the back and avoided talking to anyone. She was still pissed at Zach for what he'd said to her earlier and her surly mood was evident to all that laid eyes on her. When Zach had gotten up to speak, Alex had started to turn around to slink back to the house unseen, but when she heard him say that he was going to tell his _friend's_ story Alex couldn't help but turn back around and listen. She quickly regretted it. She listened as Zach read Sally's words; Sally's words crediting _Billy_ with making her feel welcome, crediting _Billy_ with teaching her about the horses and even crediting _Billy_ with teaching her how to survive in this world! Alex was pissed - she'd done _way_ more than Billy to teach Sally how to survive!

She didn't wait to hear anything else. Alex stormed back to the mostly empty house - Betty and Norma had returned shortly before Alex and started preparing dessert for everyone, but they were in the kitchen. Alex walked silently through the house and retrieved a bottle of whiskey that had been brought out for the celebration. She then went up to her room, drew a hot bath and locked herself in the bathroom.

§

Alex wasn't sure how long she'd been in the tub, but she could definitely hear the party downstairs below her. Someone had even turned some music on… Alex couldn't remember the last time she'd heard real music. Her head was fuzzy, it was hard to figure out up from down and everything was swimming in the waves of steam that emanated from the bath. She looked over to the bottle - it was about ⅔ gone - she'd gone to town once she'd gotten over the horrible burning sensation as the whiskey made its way down her throat. She drank until her thoughts started to get jumbled and she could no longer think about any one thing for more than a few seconds before it morphed into something else. Then she just sat there, staring at the wall.

As she sat there staring, she realized she had a razor blade in her hand. Alex didn't remember picking it up, but there it was, gleaming back at her. She stared at it, suddenly remembering Sally and she started to feel angry again. Angry at Sally for saying horrible things to her and angry at Zach for acting like Alex was a terrible, selfish person. He was rubbing it in her face how much more Sally liked him than her. Alex pressed the razor to her shoulder and drew it down a couple of inches. Blood began flowing out of the wound, down her arm and into the tub, turning the water pink. Alex watched as her blood dripped off her elbow into the water, maintaining its shape for just a moment before being dispersed through the water. She sat there mesmerized by the drips and swirls, lost to the world around her.

There was a soft knock on the door, which she failed to notice. It was followed by another, more urgent knock. This time it caught her attention. She looked at the door, as if it was the one doing the knocking.

"Al, ya okay in there," Jake's voice called through the door. Alex panicked. She didn't want Jake coming in.

Alex looked down at the tub. The water was getting pretty dark; her arm was still bleeding freely. She heard Jake repeat himself at the door, knocking rapidly, but she ignored him, sinking down under the water so her ears were fully submerged. She closed her eyes and let herself sink to the bottom of the tub, drowning out all the sounds.

The next thing she knew, she was being roughly lifted out of the tub while Jake yelled at her to open her eyes.

"Alex! Alex! Open yer eyes, darlin'," Jake yelled while he set her down on the ground. He placed his ear to her chest to listen for a heartbeat just as Alex opened her eyes. When he raised his head, he saw her eyes blinking at him. He looked at her in disbelief.

"Thank god," he said as he realized she was okay. He quickly looked for and found the source of the bleeding. He grabbed her cut arm, inspected it and practically threw it back down on the floor away from him when he realized she'd done it to herself. "What tha fuck is this shit," Jake said angrily. Alex laid there, not answering.

§

"Ya ain't got nothin' ta say 'bout cuttin' yerself," he said frustratedly. He looked around the bathroom and saw the mostly empty bottle of booze. "That's what this's about? Yer drunk an' feelin' sorry fer yerself," he asked, disgusted. "Zach told me what he said ta ya. I told 'im he shouldn'ta talked ta ya that way an' came up here ta check on ya. But it looks like I owe him an apology. He's right. Ya need ta get over yerself. This ain't 'bout ya, it's about Sally. Yer supposed ta be happy that she's talkin', makin' progress. But instead yer locked in tha bathroom cuttin' yerself cuz she yelled at ya? What tha hell is wrong with ya," Jake asked angrily.

He was about to grab a towel from the rack and apply it to the still bleeding cut on her shoulder when he was startled by a voice behind him.

"What's going on," Scott asked from the doorway. He'd noticed Alex wasn't at the party and come up to check on her himself. He heard the raised voice from the stairwell and had hurried to see what was going on. He looked at the scene before him and he couldn't fit the pieces together.

"What's goin' on is Alex decided ta down a bottle of booze an' cut herself in tha tub," he said as he grabbed a couple of towels placing one over Alex's body and pressing the other tightly to the cut. Scott stepped into the bathroom and grabbed Alex's bathrobe, pulled the belt from the loops and helped Jake tie it around the towel. Jake picked Alex up and carried her to their bed while Scott moved about gathering clothes for Alex and helped Jake get her dressed. By the time they finished the bleeding had slowed but not stopped and Alex was awake, but not coherent.

"Should we take her to the clinic," Scott asked.

"I don't think so… got stuff here ta clean tha wound an' cover it. Might as well jus' take care of it here an' let her sleep it off," Jake said. "Will ya sit with her while I grab tha kit," Jake asked him.

"Of course I will," Scott said. He sat on the edge of the bed next to Alex. She was laying there mumbling random incoherent thoughts. Jake left to grab the kit from downstairs.

"Mmpphh… fallt… fukin… shit…" Alex mumbled.

Scott reached over and pulled the blankets up over Alex's body then he sat there and gently rubbed her calf through the blankets. "Don't know what you were thinking, Alexandra. You are stronger than this, kid," he said to her. Alex's eyes were drooping, she would be asleep before Jake returned.

Jake returned to the room with the first aid kit and Scott helped him clean and dress Alex's arm. She slept through the entire process. Scott then helped Jake clean up the bathroom and they looked around for all the sharp objects and removed them, including all of her knives. Jake took the guns too, just to be thorough. Then they left her to sleep it off.

As they walked down the hallway together, Scott asked, "What was that about?"

Jake stopped at the top of the stairs and turned to address Scott. "Pretty sure she's upset that Sally is talkin' ta Zach an' not her. Those thangs that Sally said ta her, I think it was probably tha same thangs that Al is thinkin' already… then ta hear Sally accuse her, _blame_ her fer tha whole thang… well, I think it was too much fer her," Jake said. He stood there and shook his head. "Honestly, Scott, I don't know how ta help her. When I saw her in the tub, sunk under tha water, it scared tha shit outta me… I thought that was it. An' then ta see that she was cuttin' herself… well, I got pissed. It's actually good that ya showed up when ya did. My yellin' at her ain't gonna change nothin. She's cut herself before, but this is different."

Scott put his hand on Jake's shoulder. "Don't be so hard on yourself. You reacted that way because you love her. We don't ever want to see those we love get hurt and it's especially frustrating and painful when they are the ones hurting themselves. I would have reacted the same way, I'm sure. I know you don't want to hear this, but you can only do so much for someone. If they aren't willing to do the work themselves there isn't anything you can do to help them. Alex has always been mule-headed; never was able to get her to do anything she didn't truly want to do. All I can say is that _she_ is the only one that can deal with her emotions and you can't make her do it or do it for her," Scott said sympathetically. "All you can do is support her and be there for her."

Jake nodded. "Jus' don't seem like enough," Jake said. "Ya think it's safe ta leave 'er alone," he asked.

"She's passed out. Should have a few hours at least before she starts to come to," Scott said. "If you want, I'll come back and check on her every half hour or so, just until the party is over and you've got your house back to yourself," Scott offered.

"Scott, it ain't my house," Jake said.

Scott waved him down. "Of course it is. It's yours and Alex's. I don't want any argument. You want me to help out keeping an eye on Alex or not," Scott asked.

Jake nodded. "I would appreciate it, Scott. Thank you," Jake said.

"Of course, _son_. That's what _family_ does," he said with a smile.

§

The party went on for hours, much longer than Jake had expected it to. Tim was the only person, other than Alex, to truly get shitfaced. He and Ellie had sat off in a corner, sharing a bottle of whiskey between the two of them. Somehow, Ellie had come out of it functional while Tim couldn't put one foot in front of the other. At the end of the evening, Jake and James carried Tim to a truck and drove him home, then they managed to get his drunk ass inside his trailer and dumped him on the bed. They helped Ellie get him partially undressed and under the covers.

"Thanks, boys," Ellie said. "I can take it from here," she slurred slightly.

"You sure you don't want help back to your trailer," Jake offered.

"Nah, I'm stayin' here… wanna see the look on his face when he wakes up hungover tomorrow," she laughed. "He said he could drink two bottles of whiskey without a hangover… I told him I didn't believe him," she laughed again.

"Alright, we'll leave ya to it then," Jake said with a grin. He and James took the truck back to the house. James helped the rest of the people that were still around in cleaning up the house then he drove the truck while everyone piled in the back and headed home. Jake waved to the last of them before collapsing on the porch swing and lighting a cigarette. It was close to midnight and he was exhausted. After a few minutes of quiet, the sliding screen door opened and Scott stepped out into the cool night air.

"You got one of those for me," he asked. Jake nodded and offered Scott the pack. After lighting his smoke, Scott sat near Jake in the rocking chair and they just listened to the sounds of the night.

"Jus' sittin' here listenin'... seems like everythin' is normal, like how it used ta be," Jake said. "Crickets an' frogs an' owls don't care that tha human race is about ta meet its end," Jake said after taking a long drag.

"Well, that's pretty bleak," Scott said, taking his own long drag. "But accurate, nonetheless. If you'd seen what I saw…" Scott's voice trailed off.

"We still ain't heard yer story," Jake said. "Pretty bad out there, eh?"

"Horrible. Worse than anything we ever dreamed up in the movies," Scott said. "My story isn't pretty, I was involved in the mass execution of tens of thousands of people, maybe even millions. But there are lessons to be learned from it, to be sure. As much as I wish I could never think about it again, it is important that you know what happened to us out there. I can fill you all in on what I knew about the outbreak and how the government was dealing with the threat. It's a long story and I don't know if it's something that everyone needs to hear. I was thinking that it _is_ something that should be written down... I may be the only person left alive that knows what happened in the last hours before everything went to hell," Scott said.

Jake nodded. "We will probably just have you talk to the council, maybe a select few that we trust too. We've got someone that's kinda been documenting our experience so far. We'll have her come and she can write it all down. Kathy will be overjoyed at the prospect of documenting an experience from outside our little safe zone," Jake said.

Scott agreed to the idea and they sat there for a while smoking in silence. "I checked on Alex a couple of times and she hasn't hardly moved. I don't think she's going to be too happy in the morning," Scott said after he'd finished his cigarette and stubbed it out in the ashtray.

"She's gonna be unhappy fer a number of reasons, I think," Jake said, also putting his cigarette in the ashtray. "Hangover's gonna be tha least of her worries."

"Why do you say that," Scott asked, curiously.

"I'm gonna tell her that she needs ta talk ta someone about everythin' too, like Sally does. Al's had bad shit happen ta her too an' she never talks about it. Jus' pushes everythin' down an' tries ta ignore it. I been tellin' her since day one that she's gotta talk ta me instead of just goin' off on her own an' dealin' with shit her way. Her way almost got Sally killed. I don't think she should be makin' decisions right now, an' that's gonna piss her off somethin' awful," Jake said.

"You're right, it may piss her off. But if she really isn't capable of making good, rational decisions for the group, then it's in the best interest of the group that she isn't in charge," Scott said. "Hardest part of being a leader is knowing when to admit that you're no longer fit to lead. It's a lesson that she will need to learn if she's going to conquer this new world."

"We both know how fond she is of lessons," Jake said sarcastically.

"Be that as it may, it's a fact of life now. Things don't run like they used to and Alex needs to learn how to handle her emotions and not let them control her actions. There's no room for errors or learning on the job anymore. If she approaches this world emotionally, she won't survive long. The people that are left in this world are fighters, survivors. They've had to kill and run and fight and steal to make it this long and her emotions are a weakness for people like that to exploit," Scott said.

"Well, we'll see how thangs go tomorrow. I can't think about it anymore tonight. Thanks again fer all yer help," Jake said, standing up and extending his hand to Scott. Scott took it and shook it firmly.

"Like I said, it's what you do for family and I consider you family, plain and simple. I'm going to head back to Christine and Joey. If he's doing the same tomorrow, I'll come to the barn early and see if we can figure out a time for me to tell our tale. Also, I was hoping to poke around in the supplies and grab a few things for Christine. Do you think that would be okay," Scott asked.

"Man, you don't gotta ask that. You just hook up with Kathy an' she'll get ya all taken care of," Jake said.

The two men said their goodnights and went their separate ways. Jake did one final walk through of the downstairs before he headed off to his and Alex's room. When he opened the door, Alex was sprawled out diagonally, taking up almost the entire bed. After a quick shower, Jake picked her up and moved her back on her side, then climbed into bed - facing away from Alex and her alcohol infused dragon breath - and he settled in for another long, restless night.


	14. Chapter 14 - Free Fallin'

9

Sally woke up bright and early the morning after the service and party. As promised, Zach had come back after the party to tell her how the service was and to sneak her some of the desserts that Betty and Norma had whipped up for everyone. He hadn't stayed long, they'd talked for a little while and shared some of the treats he'd brought back, then Zach went home to sleep since he had to be up early for his shift on the perimeter. Before he left he pulled out a worn copy of The Outsiders and handed it to her.

"Thought you might like this. It was my favorite book when I was about your age. I came across a copy out on a run one day and I've been keeping it in my pocket, reading a little when I get a chance," he said as he handed it to her. Sally took the book and ran her hand over the worn cover. It was still warm from being in his pocket.

"What's it about," she asked.

"It's about this kid that doesn't really have a family, just his older brothers who are in a gang and he gets drawn into the gang even though he gets good grades in school and is on the track team. He ends up involved in the killing of a rival gang member and everything starts falling apart for him and his gang and his best friend dies. When everything settles down, Pony has to figure out how to go on after everything he's seen and done," Zach explains.

"Sounds boring," Sally said, wrinkling her nose.

"It really isn't," Zach assured her. "There's lots of action, but I really like the parts where Ponyboy is trying to figure out the right path, even though everyone around him always picks the wrong path. It kinda reminds me of us, now, and what we have seen and done. How do we go forward from that," he asked Sally rhetorically.

"Okay, I'll give it a try, since you are so sure I'll like it," Sally said skeptically.

"I promise you're gonna love it," he said enthusiastically. "Well, kid, I really gotta get going. I have first watch in the morning. I'll come by after and see how you're doing," Zach had said.

Dr. Benson had told Sally that he would be making her go outside today since she'd slept through the night and was rested. She wasn't able to walk more than a few steps at a time, the doctor didn't want her to rip the stitches he'd put in her thigh. Instead, they brought her a wheelchair so she could be pushed outside. When Nurse Cindy wheeled it into the room, however, Sally wasn't having it.

"What do you mean I have to be pushed around in that thing," she screeched. "I don't need a fuckin' wheelchair!"

Nurse Cindy's smile never faltered. "Dr. Benson says you can't push yourself too hard yet. You don't want to make it worse and have to use the chair even _longer_ do you," she asked the girl.

"Fine. But only this one time. Tomorrow I'm doing it myself," she declared. Cindy didn't say anything, she just smiled as she walked out of the room and closed the door behind her.

Sally was feeling a little bit better about things than she had the previous day and so after breakfast, instead of waiting for the doctor to tell her to get out, she tried to dress herself. Her limited range of motion due to the rib injuries, however, required her to swallow her pride and ask Nurse Cindy for assistance, which she was (surprise) more than happy to provide.

When she was finally ready, Sally sat herself in the stupid chair and tentatively wheeled around a little bit, finding it a bit difficult to maneuver because of her ribs. Using any of her core muscles was painful, but the pain just made Sally angry and more determined to do it anyway and ignore the pain. She stuck the book Zach gave her next to her in the chair and managed to get herself out of her room and down the hallway to the back door. She opened the sliding glass door but found she couldn't get herself over the track. Sally backed up a little and built up some speed to get over the obstacle. She almost didn't make it over and she thought she was going to get dumped out of the chair, but she managed to correct her balance and keep seated, thought the cost in pain was immense. She took a moment and then closed the door behind her and wheeled herself into the sun. She sat there for a few minutes with her face turned up to the light. She had to admit, it _did_ feel good to get out in the sun.

The chair wasn't all that comfortable to sit in for very long so Sally wheeled herself over to the patio table and chairs and carefully moved herself into one of the cushy patio chairs. Sally found a comfortable position and began reading her new book.

§

Scott was up early, checking on Joey and talking to Dr. Benson about how things looked for the day. Dr. Benson confirmed that things were still looking good, that Joey was gaining weight and his fever seemed to be hovering just over 100°, which was lower than it had been when they arrived.

"I've been putting off meeting with the council because I wanted to be here in case anything happened, but if I can, I'd like to meet with them today," Scott said. "You think I can leave for a few hours," he asked.

"I don't see why not. It's not good for you to stay cooped up inside if you don't need to be, and I don't see anything to indicate things are going to do anything other than continue to improve," Dr. Benson assured him. "Besides, we are in radio contact with the barn, if something changes I can always call you back."

With his concerns assuaged for the time being, Scott said goodbye to Christine, kissed Joey on the head and went in search of Jake and the other members of the council. He found most of them gathered at the barn already, though the sun wasn't even up over the horizon completely.

"How's everyone feeling this morning," Scott asked as he walked up to the group.

"Looks like we only got a couple hangovers this mornin'," Jake said. "Alex wasn't awake when I came down, figured I'd let her sleep a while. Ellie says Tim's hurtin' pretty bad. We probably won't see him 'til this afternoon," he said with a chuckle. "How're thangs at tha clinic," he asked.

"Good. I think Sally is getting kicked outside today. I heard her having a disagreement with Cindy over having to use a wheelchair," Scott said. "Joey is making tiny, daily improvements, so we are thankful for that. Still no idea what's wrong with him though. Tests aren't helping it seems."

"Well, he's gettin' better, that's tha important thang," Jake said. "So you ready ta tell yer tale," Jake asked.

"Yeah, as ready as I'll ever be. It's probably going to take a significant amount of time," Scott said. "We can do it later this morning after you've gotten everyone started for the day," he offered.

Just then, all of the lights in the barn went out. It was still early, and though the sun was up, they still needed the artificial light to see in the various rooms inside the barn. People started wandering out from the barn and bunkhouse, wondering what was going on.

"What tha hell," Jake said as the rest of his group began spreading out to calm people down. "Scott, you best come with me ta check out tha solar rig," he said.

"Yes, I believe I should," Scott answered.

Ellie came running over from Tim's trailer. "What happened? I was checkin' on Tim and the lights in the trailer went out," she said as she finished buttoning her jeans.

"Ain't sure yet," Jake told her. "Me an' Scott are gonna go check it out. You stay here an' keep people calm. Try ta keep thangs goin' business as usual. I'll take a walkie an' let ya know what we find," Jake said.

§

As Scott and Jake drove off, Ellie's brain kicked into gear, like on a busy night at her bar when she was short a waitress and the place was slammed. She looked around at the people that had begun to gather around her asking questions. Ellie held her hand up for silence and soon had the attention of the group.

"Yes, the power is out. No, we don't know what caused it," she said pointedly. "It just happened, people. Jake and Scott just left to check it out and they'll radio in when they know more. Ya'll standin' around here like a bunch of chickens ain't helpin' nothin'," she said with a wink. "Come on, there's still plenty of work to be done. And I bet Betty and Norma could use some help in the kitchen since the breakfast menu just changed."

She walked with the group to the bunkhouse, tucking the walkie into her waistband. As they approached the door, three people exited in a hurry.

"Wouldn't go in there if I were you," Amy said with Seth trailing behind her. James ducked out right after them. "I just asked Miss Betty if I could help with anything and she let out a string of curse words the like of which I've never heard. I had no idea she even _knew_ some of the words that came out of her mouth," Amy said, clearly shaken by the experience.

"I have a feeling I know what's got Betty so blue in the mouth," Ellie said as she carefully approached the screen door. "Miss Betty? It's Ellie. I'm comin' in. Don't you go throwin' no day old biscuits at me, you hear," Ellie teased through the screen. She heard Betty laugh from inside and pulled the door open, stepping inside to find two frazzled elderly women sitting at the kitchen table.

"Really, dear, I would _never_ throw an old biscuit at you," Betty said with a twinkle in her eye. "There's never any left over. Now, pancake batter, I could throw _that_ at you," she said with a huff.

"I take it we were going to get spoiled by another Betty and Norma pancake feast," Ellie asked. Both women nodded their heads.

"Well, why can't we still? Can we set up the grills, maybe use cookie sheets to cook on the grill top over the flames," Ellie suggested. "If we can keep the temp steady it should work just fine. It will take a while to get the temp up though, so we should probably get moving," Ellie prompted.

Betty smiled at her. "That's an excellent idea, young lady. We can cook it all that way, bacon, sausage and pancakes," Betty said.

"Excellent. I'll have some people get the grills started and collect wood," Ellie said.

"Oh, Ellie dear," Betty said as Ellie walked to the door.

"Yes?"

"Would you please ask Amy to come back inside? I'm afraid I owe her an apology," Betty

said with a slight frown. Ellie nodded and returned to the group outside.

"Okay, crisis averted, at least, _this_ crisis," she said as she walked up to the others. "Amy,

Betty would like to see you about that help now. And you boys too, just linger behind about sixty seconds," she said.

Ellie then went about assigning tasks to idlers, collecting wood, building and maintaining the fires under the grills, setting up prep tables, basically anything she could think of that would make things run as smoothly as possible for Betty and Norma. Within ninety minutes their on-the-fly outdoor kitchen was ready and the smell of wood-fire-cooked bacon, sausages and pancakes permeated the early morning air.

"You look like you've got your hands full," Doc Hobbs said as he walked up behind Ellie from the barn. "Anything I can do to help," he asked.

Ellie wheeled to face him. "Man, am I glad to see you. I was feelin' a little outnumbered," she said with a smile. "I think I've got it under control for the moment, but I'm sure we won't have to wait long for something else to hit the fan. How are things at the clinic?"

"Everything's fine. No one currently requires electricity for medical treatment, really. The heart monitor on baby Joey has a battery pack that we can change out if we need to. But he's getting much better and may not need the monitor much longer," Doc said.

"That's great news. Explains why Scott left the clinic," she said. Ellie filled Doc in on the little that they knew so far while she intermittently answered questions from people as they came by.

"Ellie, ya copy," Jake's voice crackled from her waist.

"Yeah Jake, I copy," Ellie replied.

"Don't look good… ruled out all tha easy stuff… gonna have ta take 'er apart an' get inside ta see what tha problem is. Gonna be at least a couple more hours. How're thangs there, over," Jake asked.

"Everything's under control here, breakfast is underway as we speak, over," she said.

"Good. Will letcha know when we figure it out. An' El? I need ya ta do me a favor, over," Jake called.

"Sure, anything, over," Ellie replied.

"Alex was asleep when I left, an' I left her a note, but I thought I'd be back ta check on 'er by now. She's upset 'bout Sally an' she cut her arm while she was drunk in tha tub last night. She was under tha water when I found 'er. I took away all her knives an' weapons - she's outta commission fer awhile, only she don't know it yet. I jus' need ta make sure she don't do nothin' til I get a chance ta talk ta her… over," Jake said.

"Oh. Okay. You want me to go watch her instead of stayin' here an' runnin' things? Billy's still outta commission too… over," Ellie called.

"No, don't leave tha barn… it'll jus' have ta wait," Jake said.

After a pause Ellie replied, "I'll try to figure somethin' out. But I got other shit ta take care of first, over," Ellie said.

"Thanks, El. I'll let ya know when we figure it out, over," Jake said.

"Copy," Ellie said. She took a deep breath and stuck the walkie back in her waistband.

"You want me to go check on her," Doc offered.

"No offense, Doc, but you probably are the last person that should go check on her. She always seems to find a reason to argue with ya," Ellie said.

"True," Doc conceded. "You want me to keep an eye on things here while you go check on her? Things seem to be going smoothly now that breakfast is on it's way."

"It could just be the calm before the storm," Ellie said, "but I'll take advantage of the quiet and run up there real quick just to check on her. I won't be long," Ellie said, handing Doc the walkie.

Ellie hurried to the house and entered through the front door. It was quiet, she figured Alex was still asleep. She'd never been on the second floor before and she wasn't sure which room was Alex's, so Ellie quietly climbed the stairs and checked each room as she walked down the hallway.

She found Alex behind the third door she tried. She was still passed out and sprawled across the whole bed, snoring softly. Ellie tiptoed over to the note Jake left on the bedside table and added her own addendum:

 _Hey Alex, The power is out and Jake and Scott are trying to fix the problem so I came to check on you. It's taking a long time and Jake said you should just hang out here until he gets back and can come check on you himself. I'll be back in a couple hours with some food. Stay put. ~ Ellie 9am._

Ellie took a look around the room and found Alex's watch. She checked to make sure it had the right time and then placed it next to the note. She hoped Alex would follow directions and stay put until someone came for her. She hurried back to the barn to see what she'd missed.

Luckily, nothing had gone awry while she was gone and the next few hours were fairly routine - teams left to harvest the garden and orchard and others went about their daily chores. While they couldn't wash laundry there was stuff that needed to be dried and they ran clotheslines to dry what was still wet.

Tim finally rolled out of his trailer around noon, looking a little worse for wear. He stumbled over to the bunkhouse and got something to eat then he ambled over to Ellie to get the rundown. She filled him in on the situation as well as the basic info she'd been given about Alex. Tim looked at her funny when she told him about Jake taking her out of commission.

"What," Ellie asked when she saw the questioning look on Tim's face.

"Nothin'. I just hope he has that kind of influence over her. I've never known Alex to take kindly to being told she can't do something. And taking her weapons away is just going to piss her off, you wait and see," Tim said glumly.

The pause in conversation turned into an uncomfortable silence. Tim shifted his weight on his feet and stuck his hands in his pockets while he stood there awkwardly.

"I'm sorry 'bout last night," Tim said quietly. "I didn't mean… I was really drunk an' I just miss him so much… I didn't know what I was doin'," Tim said cryptically.

Ellie raised her hand to get him to stop. "Just stop, Tim. We're two fuckin' grown ass people livin' through the end of the world. We got drunk and had sex. So what? Neither of us have anythin' to be sorry for," she said bluntly.

"Well, I just -" Tim started only to be cut off by Ellie.

"No you don't. I was there too, Tim. I made the decision too," Ellie said. She took a deep breath. "I needed to feel something other than sadness, and I don't have any regrets about it. Do you," she asked.

Tim was quiet for a minute. "What about Billy," he asked.

"What _about_ Billy," she sighed. "Billy ain't here no more and he'd want us to move on and try to be happy. This isn't some terrible thing, Tim. It happened. It could happen again. Why does it matter," she asked him.

Tim was quiet again.

"Look, I need to go check on Alex again. It's been longer than I intended. We can talk about this later, or not. I encourage you to just let it go and find what little happiness is left in this world and enjoy it," Ellie told him.

"It's just that easy," Tim asked.

"Isn't it," she replied.

§

Alex woke up with a pounding headache. She carefully opened her eyes to find that light did indeed hurt them. She tried to roll slowly away from the window and it's cursed light. As her eyes slowly adjusted to the amount of light in the room, Alex saw that there was a glass of water next to the bed and some Advil. She carefully swallowed a couple of tablets and downed the water. As she set the glass back down she noticed the note. It read:

 _Al- Had to check on things. Back in a couple hours. Stay here. ~ Love Jake_

followed by:

 _Hey Alex, The power is out and Jake and Scott are trying to fix the problem so I came to check on you. It's taking a long time and Jake said you should just hang out here until he gets back and can come check on you himself. I'll be back in a couple hours with some food. Stay put. ~ Ellie 9am._

What was up with them both telling her to stay put? Alex put the note back on the table and laid there for a while longer. She tried to remember last night… she didn't remember getting in bed. She tried to assess her body while she laid there… her head was pounding and her arm hurt, but other than that there didn't seem to be anything wrong with her. She remembered drinking the bottle of whiskey, so that explained her headache. She reached up to her arm and felt the gauze there covering her cut. She remembered cutting herself and she remembered Jake yelling at her, but that was it. She vaguely had the sense of someone carrying her, but nothing else. Now she was in bed, in just her pajama top and some underwear. Jake must have attempted dressing her before he put her to bed.

Alex got up and dressed herself. She noticed that her hunting knife and gun were nowhere to be found in her room and as she began looking harder, she noticed that all of her weapons were gone. What the fuck? Why would Jake leave her weaponless?

Alex tore out of the room, down the hall and down the stairs. She went to the gun room and tried the handle. Locked. She checked the spot where she and Jake usually left the keys when they were in the house. Nothing. She went to her father's office and tore through his desk looking for his spare key but it wasn't there either. Jake was the only person, other than Scott she supposed, that knew about the spare key. This was intentional. He was purposely leaving her unarmed.

Alex went back to her room and tore it apart looking for weapons that Jake might have overlooked. Unfortunately, he was thorough and she came up empty handed. She picked up the note again and reread it. There wasn't anything there to indicate why she was weaponless. Alex tried to think back to last night and why Jake would be upset with her… everything was pretty fuzzy though. Her hand went to her shoulder where she'd cut herself. She could remember that. Alex took the bandage off and inspected the cut. It was significantly deeper than the others she'd etched in her skin on the other arm. Perhaps that's what pissed him off.

Alex went to the bathroom to take a look at it. She remembered taking a bath and cutting herself, but she didn't remember anything from after the bath other than Jake yelling at her for something. The bathroom was a mess. The tub still held her bathwater which was filled with blood. The water was darker than she remembered. She must have lost a lot of blood… that would explain why Jake was so pissed at her. The razor she'd used was still on the bathroom floor where she'd dropped it, though she had no memory of that. Alex picked the razor up and looked at it, as if it held some secret she could access if she stared at it long enough. She placed it on the edge of the tub and left the room.

As she reentered her bedroom, Ellie walked in the door. She looked surprised to see Alex out of bed.

"Damn, you startled me," Ellie said as she entered the room. "How're ya feelin'," she asked.

"Head's killin' me, but other than that alright," Alex answered. "How'd you get stuck with babysittin' duty," she asked.

"Not babysittin' ya, just came to check on ya. Everyone's busy runnin' around tryin' to get the power back on and I was the only one to run things at the barn. I gotta get back but I brought you some food. I left it downstairs on the kitchen counter for you," Ellie said.

"Thanks. Do you know why all my weapons have been taken away," Alex asked bluntly.

Ellie shifted from foot to foot. She knew something, Alex could tell.

"Well, I think Jake took them away because he was worried about you after you cut yourself last night," Ellie quickly explained.

"I cut myself all the time and he's never had a problem with it before," Alex retorted.

"Look, I told you what I know. Jake has his hands full at the moment, so I didn't ask too many clarifying questions," Ellie replied irritatedly. "Whatever's goin' on is between the two of you and you'll have to ask him about it. All I know is that he told me to check on you and keep you here," Ellie explained.

"So I'm a prisoner in my own home," Alex asked. She was starting to pace the room like a caged animal.

"I don't know about that," Ellie said. "Look, I can only tell you what I was told. If you don't like it, I don't know what to say. I'm certainly not going to hold you down and force you to stay here. All I can say is that if Jake told you to stay here, it's for your own good. I know you're upset, but you should keep that in mind before you go making any decisions. I've gotta get back to the barn, your food's downstairs. If Jake isn't back in the next couple hours, I'll come back to check on you," Ellie said.

"So you're not going to make me stay here," Alex asked again.

"Look, kid, I ain't your babysitter. In case you haven't noticed, it's the end of the world and I have more important things to worry about than some emotional teenager who can't follow directions. You want to be an adult? Fucking act like it. Suck up whatever the fuck your problems are and get your shit together. The rest of us don't have the luxury of sleeping all fucking day. I had to leave someone else in charge so I could come up here to check on you because Jake said I was the _only_ one that could do it. Why is that I wonder? I couldn't send Doc up here because you would get in a fight with him. So here I am checking in on the great Alex Haddley, wasting my time when there are many other things I should be doing," Ellie finished.

"You can't talk to me like that," Alex huffed. "You're here because I invited you here."

"You know, that arguement is starting to wear a little thin, honey. I'm here because you fuckin' need me. Without me and all the others that came here from town you wouldn't have any of this. You brought people in because you needed help keeping this place running, and Billy and Tim did that for you, kept this place running. I see a lot of people doing a lot of work around here and I don't see you doing shit lately except training the kids and going out on dubious training runs that end poorly," Ellie retorted.

"Shut up!" Alex shouted at her.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Figures that would be your response. I'm leavin' anyway. Won't be surprised if ya ain't here when I come back…it's pretty predictable that you'd run when someone told you to stay put. I honestly don't know how Jake puts up with your shit," Ellie said as she exited the room, closing the door behind her.

"FUCK YOU," Alex screamed at the closed door. She picked up her lamp and threw it across the room and then proceeded to break anything and everything she could get her hands on. The tiny angel figurines from her grandmother, childhood knicknacks and adolescent presents all met the same fate and lay shattered on the floor. She upended her jewelry box, pulled books off the shelves and threw her desk chair at the mirror, shattering it too.

When Alex finally stood still in the center of her destroyed room, tears streamed down her cheeks and her breath came in ragged gasps. She collapsed on the floor, crying hysterically.

"Fuck you," she wailed. "It's… all… my… fault…" she sobbed into the floor.

§

It was several hours before Alex pulled herself up off the floor. Ellie hadn't come back to check on her, Alex figured she probably wouldn't anyway. She felt like shit and her whole body ached. She looked around the room, noticing the destruction for the first time. She picked up broken pieces of dolls and figurines, inspected them and dropped them back to the floor. They held no interest for her. They were remnants of her past and they were no longer relevant to who she was.

Who she was. What a ridiculous concept. Alex had no idea _who_ she was anymore. Or maybe she'd never known who she was. Ellie had called her an emotional teenager who couldn't follow directions and didn't do anything productive around the ranch. Was that who she was? Did it even matter anymore?

Alex knew that she wanted to be someone better, someone who could be counted on and always had the right answers. Someone that everyone looked up to and respected. She thought she was that person, or had been for a while. But ever since Sally got hurt, Alex was not the same. She couldn't be the same. That person had allowed Sally to get hurt. That person was worthless. Alex didn't know how to shed that skin and move forward. She was just stuck on worthless.

What was she even doing anymore? Things had seemed so clear before Sally got hurt. She and Jake were happy and Sally was happy and learning new things all the time. They'd gotten good at training the kids in the school together and they had a happy little family and everyone was living a life, not just surviving. Then Sally got taken and hurt, and everything fell apart. Sally hated her, Jake was angry at her for being so stupid and her dad… her fucking father was alive and back with his new wife and kid and he sure as fuck didn't need her anymore. He got the son he always wished Alex was and had his perfect little replacement family. Hell, he would probably be happier if Alex hadn't been alive; at least then he wouldn't have to live with the knowledge that his daughter was worthless.

" _They'd all be better off without you,"_ her inner voice of self-loathing told her. _"They've all made it clear that they don't need you. You provide nothing for them that they can't get from someone else. You just cause drama and make things difficult for everyone around you. You should just leave,"_ it told her.

" _You'll never be anything on your own. The only reason you've made it this long is because of Jake. If he didn't take care of you, you'd be dead already,"_ the voice of self-doubt added.

These voices swirled around in her head, creating a cacophony of self-hatred mantras running over and over in her mind. She suddenly felt like the room was closing in on her, she started sweating and her skin got flushed. Her breathing became rapid and shallow. She needed to escape this place… these memories. Alex threw the bedroom door open and ran down the hall and down the stairs. She threw the front sliding glass door open and ran out on the porch, then down the stairs and out into the scrub oaks. She had no destination in mind, she just let her feet carry her away.


	15. Chapter 15 - Laugh the Past Away

10

When Zach's perimeter shift ended at noon he returned to the barn to check on the horses and make sure that Ellie and Doc didn't need his help with anything. When they didn't need any help, he grabbed a couple of sandwiches and apples from the lunch table near the bunkhouse and headed over to the clinic to check on Sally.

The clinic was quiet and darker than usual when he entered. Nurse Cindy greeted him and directed him to the back patio to find Sally.

"Hey, kid," he greeted her. "How's the book coming," he asked.

Sally beamed up at him. "I love it. I already finished it and started it again," she said. She put the book on the table and looked at Zach. "How was watch? Anything interesting," she asked.

Zach shook his head as he pushed one sandwich and apple across the table to her. "Nothin' goin' on out there," he said. "Which is a good thing… seems like there's plenty going on around here as it is."

Sally took the sandwich and tried to take a small bite. It was still hard to stretch her mouth open enough to bite the whole thing, so she picked it apart and started eating it in small pieces. "Thanks for the food," she said. "It's still kinda hard to eat normal stuff, but I'm so tired of soup."

Zach pulled out his knife and cut up her apple since she couldn't get her mouth around that either. "So you liked the book, eh? What was your favorite part," he asked.

Sally smiled brightly. "I kinda like the whole thing. Ponyboy is just like me, lost both his parents at the same time, he's being cared for by people that aren't used to being caretakers, he feels like he doesn't belong anywhere… I feel all of those things," Sally told him. "I know how he felt when he wanted to stop living at the end… Pony wants to distance himself from everyone because having people in your life means that you can get hurt… but being alone hurts too," Sally explained.

"I'm glad you didn't stop living," Zach said. "Then I wouldn't have anyone to talk to," he said kindly.

"I didn't really want to stop living, I guess," Sally said thoughtfully. "I just wanted to stop hurting… Sometimes I feel like the only thing inside me is pain and sadness… I just want that to go away."

"I can understand that, not wanting to feel like you're full of sadness and pain. That must be really hard for you," Zach said. He was quiet for a moment and Sally didn't say anything, they just sat there eating quietly.

"Is there anything that you can think of that makes you feel happy right now," Zach asked her after a while.

Sally thought about it for a moment. "Well, reading that book made me happy, especially how it ended because Pony overcomes his hurt and depression and guilt and he makes something of himself. That made me happy," Sally replied.

Zach nodded. "That's good. That's something happy to hold on to- knowing that struggles can be overcome and that you can not only survive but thrive in spite of them. That makes me happy too," he said. "Anything else?"

"The horses make me happy… I love the way they smell and how their mouth feels on my hand when they're eating out of it - how it kinda tickles because of their whiskers? And how when you scratch them between their front legs and they almost push you over when they lean into you because it feels so good, that makes me happy too," she said.

"You must have the special touch, because they _never_ do that to me when I scratch them. They must like you more or something," Zach teased.

"You're probably just doing it wrong," Sally said knowingly. "I'll have to show you how to do it right," she teased.

"Hey, I'm not too proud to admit that I know practically nothing about horses," Zach said, throwing his hands in the air for effect with a smile. "I'll take you up on it," Zach said, "I'll take ya down to the barn right now."

"Really," Sally asked.

Zach was surprised by her response. Just last night she was acting like she never wanted to leave the hospital bed and here she was excited by just the threat of getting out of the clinic. He wasn't sure that Dr. Benson would _let_ him take Sally to the barn, but he figured that since it was the first time she'd seemed excited about anything since she came back he owed it to her to try to spring her out of prison.

"Sure. Just as soon as you've finished eating," he said, looking at the couple of pieces of apple she had left. "I'll go talk to the doctor about getting you out of here for a while."

Sally smiled at him before biting into an apple slice. "I'll be finished by the time you get back," she said cheerily.

Zach went inside and found Dr. Benson as he was leaving Scott and Christine's room. "How's little Joey today," he asked the doctor as he shook his hand.

"Everyday the little guy improves a bit," Dr. Benson said with a smile. "I don't know what was wrong with him, other than being malnourished, but whatever it was seems to be abating. In any case, the result is a positive one, and that's the only thing that matters. So, back to cheer up our surliest patient," he joked.

Zach grinned at him. "Actually, your surliest patient is all smiles out on the patio as we speak. She's even showing interest in leaving the clinic for a little while. What do you think, doc? Can I take her to the barn for a little while," Zach asked hopefully. "She's even eaten an entire sandwich and an apple," he added.

Dr. Benson stood there thinking for a moment. "She showed interest in leaving," he asked. Zach nodded. "Well, that's miles ahead of where she was yesterday. What do you think changed?"

"Well, I gave her a book to read and she really loved it. She seems to have identified with the main character and even understood some of the themes of the book. She started talking to me about her feelings. That's a good thing, right," Zach asked.

"Yes, yes, that's excellent. Out of curiosity, what book did you give her," Dr. Benson asked.

"The Outsiders," Zach replied. "It's been a favorite of mine since I was about her age. I found a copy out on a run and started keeping it in my pocket. Something about Sally made me think she needed the book more than I did."

"That's a genius move, kid. I wish I had thought of it… using novels to get adolescents to address their feelings. Well, she certainly seems to be making progress, just by sitting outside all day. But add in her wanting to go to the barn and her talking about how she feels… if she keeps this up she has an excellent chance of really getting over this thing. By all means, take her to the barn for a while. Don't let her put too much weight on that leg just yet, but let her push herself a little. We'll see how it goes," Dr. Benson said.

Zach thanked him and returned to find Sally had finished her lunch, cleaned up all of their leavings and she was once again had her nose in the book.

"Good news! Dr. Benson says I can take you to the barn, said I could even put you to work so long as you don't put too much weight on your leg," he said with a wink. "I don't think this wheelchair is going to cut it for transporting you over the gravel road, though."

"No, I don't need anymore bruised ribs than I've already got," Sally said.

Zach stood there looking at her, sizing her up. "What," Sally said when she noticed him looking at her.

"How about a piggyback," Zach said.

Sally furrowed her brow. "Seriously," she asked.

"Yes, seriously. It's a serious piggyback," Zach said. "It's not far to the barn, easier than walking back to get the truck and we don't need to waste the gas. You don't weigh much, I think I can get you to the barn without droppin' you," he teased. He turned around and kneeled down so that it would be easy for her to get on his back.

"Now," Sally asked, alarm in her voice.

"You got somewhere else to be," Zach teased. "I promise I won't drop you," he coaxed.

"Okay," Sally said dubiously. "Are you sure about this," she asked as she got settled on his back. Zach waited for her to be settled before he looped his arms around her knees and stood up. Sally squeezed her arms around his neck, making it hard to breathe.

"Gonna pass out if you keep choking me," Zach managed to get out. Sally immediately loosened her grip.

"I'm so sorry," she said.

"No worries," he said. He adjusted her carefully on his back and took a few steps on the patio to make sure they were good to go. "You okay? I'm not putting too much pressure on your thigh am I," he asked.

Sally shook her head. "No, it's fine. I'm as ready as I'll ever be," she said.

§

"Well, look who decided to get outta bed," Ellie called out as she saw Zach and Sally approaching the barn. "And it looks like you've got a new stallion, to boot," she teased both of them.

When they were close enough to the group Sally responded. "Zach would make a terrible horse. His gait is uneven and he doesn't follow directions very well," she said with mock seriousness. Zach gently deposited her on the bed of one of the pickups parked there.

"Hey, now, that's not fair," Zach said. "I tripped _once_ and you said you wouldn't say anything about it," he accused Sally.

"Well, technically, _I_ didn't say anything about it, you did," she crowed. "I told you to go around the rock and you just _had_ to do it your way," she teased.

"Well, I didn't drop you, just like I promised," Zach said.

"No, you didn't, and I thank you for that," Sally said seriously.

"How're you feelin' Sally," Tim asked when he arrived from the bunkhouse.

"Better," she said honestly. "Still got a ways to go 'til I'm good as new, but I'm feeling better."

"That's good news," Tim said. "That was a nice story that Zach shared for you. I know that Billy really enjoyed teachin' you things. Said you were a natural at almost everything you put your hand too. Told me once that you were gonna be in charge of this place one day," Tim told her.

Sally shook her head at that. "Well, I hope it never comes to that… and that's awful nice of you to say, Tim. I just told Zach the truth. I'm sorry about Billy," she said to Tim.

"Thanks," Tim said a bit gruffly.

Ellie noticed Tim's tone and figured it was more about them and less about the girl. "So what brings you down to the barn from your cushy bed at the clinic," she asked Sally, changing the subject.

Sally's smile returned to her face. "Zach doesn't know how to treat the horses right so I told him I'd show him how to do it right," she gloated.

"Hey now, I admitted that I didn't really know what I was doing and I asked for help. That's got to count for something," Zach chimed in.

"Well, in any case, I'm glad to see you out and about, Sally. We missed your smile around here," Ellie said. "You two go on and check on the horses. We'll probably still be standin' right here when you're done," she said.

Zach squatted down for Sally to remount and they trotted off towards the stalls. Ellie watched them go, truly happy that Sally seemed to be making some progress. If only the same could be said for Alex. Ellie hadn't meant to be so blunt with the girl but when Alex just kept asking whether she had to stay or not, Ellie kinda lost it. Losing Billy had made Ellie realize that they were all going to die, it was just a matter of when. The way she saw it, there were only two ways to deal with that information: give up completely and just eat a bullet or make the most of whatever time she had left and find whatever happiness there was left in the world and claim it for herself. Since her father had certainly not raised a quitter, Ellie found herself looking for reasons to smile.

Alex, however, seemed to be going the other direction - she was rapidly spiraling out of control towards a point of no return. Ellie had seen it plenty of times growing up in a bar like she had. Even before the world ended people lived in their own personal hells, gradually being driven to varying degrees of brokenness and even death. She'd seen plenty of people drink themselves to death from being so wrapped up in the things that made them angry. Alex just kept finding reasons to be angry: Sally got hurt badly and blamed Alex for it, her father had shown up with a new wife and son, Jake got angry and took her weapons away.

But Ellie saw reasons to be happy: Sally had survived and would get better with time; Scott had survived against all odds and managed to make it home to his daughter; Jake loved her so much that he was willing to do anything to protect her, even make decisions that he knew would make her angry at him because it was what was best for _her._ Ellie recognized the dangerous place that Alex was in right now, but even that hadn't been enough to keep Ellie from being brutally honest.

Ellie was actually glad that she said something. Someone had to. Alex had been fine over the last six months, other than the occasional disagreement with Doc or Kathy she'd seemed to be maturing. Now Ellie wasn't so sure. Alex regressed pretty quickly when shit went south. Maybe Alex just couldn't handle the long term pressure of living under these conditions and she was starting to crack. It made sense, living under constant threat of death puts a strain on a person. But Ellie was afraid that Alex would end up like Molly Riggs, and that wouldn't be good for anyone.

"Hey, you okay," Tim's voice broke into her thoughts. "You seemed pretty far away. Hope it was someplace better than this," he joked darkly.

Ellie let out a scoff. "Hardly. I was just thinking about Alex. She might be in a tailspin we can't stop… this might prove to be too much for her."

Tim was quiet, as he had been since he woke up. "You never know. She's young, she could beat it. Sometimes you don't truly know what you can do until you're at the bottom and there's nowhere else to go but back up," Tim quietly.

"For Jake's sake, I hope you're right," Ellie said with a sigh.

Tim smirked for the first time in days. "Well, _that's_ one thing I've got going for me that Billy never had - I'm always right," he said with a straight face.

Ellie couldn't contain her surprise or her laughter and her grin turned into horror when she loudly snorted. This in turn made Tim laugh, which made Ellie laugh harder and snort again. Before long they were both doubled over clutching their sides and gasping for air with the occasional snort coming from Ellie.

"Boy, to look at the two of you one would think we haven't got a care in the world," Doc said as he walked up. "Good to see you laughing, though I'm certain it's at someone's expense," he said good-naturedly.

Tim and Ellie burst into a fresh fit of laughter at Doc's words.

"It's okay…" Tim gasped out, "Billy won't mind…" he got out before he started laughing hysterically.

"Oh good grief," Doc said. "Do you two need to be separated?" When they just continued laughing, Doc just kept talking. "Well, I just came over to tell you that Betty and Norma have gotten tonight's meal planned as well as meals for the next few days, just in case there isn't an easy fix, which things seem to be headed towards. We were just discussing how it may be a good idea to look into building an outdoor, wood burning oven. It wouldn't have to be big, but it would be nice to continue to have bread, even if we don't have power," Doc said. "Personally, I've grown quite fond of Betty's roast beef sandwiches."

By the time Doc finished talking, Ellie had managed to get herself under control and as long as she didn't look at Tim she was okay. "You're right, Doc. We probably should see about building something like that," Ellie said.

"Do you think there's anythin' in any of the books we brought back from the library? I ain't got the first clue how to build an oven," Tim said breathlessly.

"That's an excellent idea. I will take a look through the collection and see if there's anything about building an outdoor kitchen. We did a pretty good job of cleaning everything out that related to survival and the outdoors. Now that you two can talk, how are things going here? I just saw Sally with Zach, she looks happy. I'm glad to see her outside so soon," Doc said.

Ellie took a deep breath. "Everything is golden over here. I think we're going to have a problem with Alex, but that's not really anything new. Everything else is running surprisingly smoothly. Speaking of Alex, I should confirm my suspicions and go check on her," Ellie said. "Tim, maybe you should come with me, just in case. I rattled her pretty good earlier and she was pretty pissed. I heard her screaming and throwing things in her room before I got out of the house. You got things here for ten minutes, Doc," Ellie asked.

"Of course. I'll ask Kathy about those books and start researching," Doc replied.

§

Ellie saw the front sliding glass door was wide open when they climbed the stairs of the front porch and she knew that Alex had run.

"Damn it," she said as they hurried upstairs and down the hall to Alex's room.

"Holy shit storm," Tim said as he looked at the totally destroyed room. "Think ya did a little more than rattle her."

"She was going to run no matter what I said. This room being destroyed is probably my fault, though," Ellie replied. "Clearly no reason to stick around here, let's get back."

As they walked back to the barn, Ellie told Tim about her and Alex's confrontation earlier in the day.

"Hell, you didn't say anthin' that we haven't _all_ been thinkin'. She's fuckin' cuttin' herself in the tub and almost drownin' - she clearly needs help. Too bad she can't see it," Tim said when Ellie finished explaining.

"I know she needs help, Tim," Ellie said. "But how do you propose we help her? Which one of us even has a clue what is _really_ wrong with her? And if she doesn't want to get help voluntarily do we force her? Is it for the "greater good" that she's somehow treated when we don't even have a shrink in a ten mile radius," Ellie asked. "I mean, it's one thing if she's just being a melodramatic teenager. But you didn't see the look in her eyes when she was pacing back and forth in her room. I thought for a minute she was going to attack me and I was going to have to knock some sense into her. I don't think it's just teen angst."

"Fuck. Well, should we go look for her," Tim asked.

Ellie shook her head vigorously. "No. I have a feeling we're gonna have a run to plan and we're gonna need all our best people ready for that," Ellie said as they walked up to the barn. Ellie saw that Jake and Scott were back, and they looked a little worse for wear.

§

As Jake pulled up to the barn he noticed how calm things looked compared to when they'd left that morning. Scott voiced his thought. "That Ellie always could crack the whip. It's a good thing you guys found her and even better that you thought to put her on the council," Scott said as Jake parked.

When both men stepped out of the truck, the cracks and pops their joints made were audible to those few standing around. They'd been stuck for hours at a time in awkward positions trying to take the damn solar power station apart to find the problem part - or parts. They'd finally narrowed it down to at least one if not both parts from a single component of the system. That was where the good news ended.

Doc came out of the barn and greeted them warmly. He gave them the rundown on what had transpired while they were gone, what he knew anyway. "Ellie and Tim just went to check on Alex… speak of the devils, here they come now," Doc said when he saw Ellie and Tim headed their direction.

"How's Al," Jake said seeing the look on both Tim and Ellie's faces.

"She took off," Ellie said. "Sometime within the last two hours I'm guessing."

"What happened," Scott asked.

"Second time I went to check on her around lunch she was already up and dressed. She kept saying things about me being her babysitter. She asked where her weapons were, I told her. She started asking if she was a prisoner in her own home, asking if she was free to leave and I kinda lost it. I told her that she needed to stop acting like a child who can't follow directions. I told her to suck it up like the rest of us and get her shit together because the rest of us have to function even when we don't want to. No one else got to sleep all day because they had a shitty day, got drunk and sliced their arm open in a warm bath and almost drowned. Then I told her that I had no idea how you put up with her shit. She tried to tell me that I couldn't talk to her like that because she invited me here, and I told her that was a bunch of bullshit, that you brought us in out of necessity as much as, if not more, than your desire to help others. I told her that at this point, this place is as much ours as it is hers, seeing as how we all pour our blood, sweat and tears into the ground and all she's done in the last six months is train a couple of kids how to fight and take Sally out training - to Sally's detriment," Ellie ranted.

"Ya actually said that ta her," Jake asked, surprised.

"Pretty much, yeah. Right before I told her I had more important things to do than babysit her and that I'd be back to check on her in a couple hours, even though I knew she'd run because that's what she does," Ellie added.

Jake didn't say anything.

"Well, you do make some good points that she probably needed to hear," Scott said. "Perhaps the delivery was wrong, but the message sounds right on. You certainly weren't any more blunt than Alex is with other people, and she expects them to be able to handle it from her."

The group was quiet for a moment as Scott's statement sunk in. Jake finally took a deep breath before speaking.

"Thanks fer checkin' on her like I asked, El. I'm sorry ya had ta deal with it," he said. "Unfortunately, that ain't tha only bad news ta deliver," he continued as he looked around at the group. "We narrowed it down ta two parts, could be one, could be both. Could be somethin' else too. We won't know till we get new parts in. Tha bad news is that we're gonna have ta go inta Empire Valley ta see if tha commercial hardware supply store has tha parts we're lookin' fer," Jake finished.

"And if they don't, "Ellie asked.

"If they don't, then we have to decide if having electricity is worth travelling fifty highly populated miles to the closest large city that has a solar equipment supply store," Scott said.

"Oh," Ellie said.

"Yeah, I'm not excited about that option either," Scott said. "But we're not there just yet. For right now, let's focus on getting into Empire Valley, which could be just as problematic even though it's only ten miles away."

"Scott's right. We can't get ahead of ourselves. This run is gonna be more dangerous than anything we've done so far. We don't have time ta scout it out any more than we already have. I think we should head towards that camp near tha oil company since we know what's between here an' there. From there it's another three miles or so ta town an' tha hardware supply store ain't far from there. Given my last experience out there, I want ta take as large a group as possible but still be able ta move fast. I figure twelve, maybe fifteen of our best people," Jake said.

"Are you going to leave right away," Doc asked.

"Nah, too dangerous ta be out there in tha dark. We'll leave at first light tomorrow," Jake said.

"What about Alex," Tim asked. "You want to form another group to go look for her?"

Jake shook his head sadly. "Nah," he sighed deeply. "We can't spare tha right people fer tha job cuz I need 'em on tha run. An' honestly, she probably would fight with anyone tha' showed up that ain't me. Alex ain't tha priority right now, tha ranch is. Hopefully she ain't so outta her mind tha' she'll be okay out there…" Jake trailed off.

"I'm sorry, Jake. I knew she was gonna take off, but I didn't try to stop her," Ellie said.

"Nah, it ain't yer fault… No reason ta force someone ta stay if they don't wanna be here," Jake said. "She's gotta make her own decisions, even if they're tha wrong ones. Come on, we got lots of plannin' ta do," he said to the group, ending the discussion about Alex.

§

"See, just like that," Sally said as she watched Zach rub down one of the horses. "That spot, right there where your finger tips are, that's where they like to be scratched with the bristled brush," she explained to him. Sally sat on an upside down five gallon bucket outside of the stall and watched Zach as he tentatively brushed the horse.

"You gotta get in there and really put your elbow into it. See how she stretches her neck out? That means you're doing it right," she told him. "Good job!"

Zach continued to brush the horse while Sally gave him pointers: this horse only likes the bristle brush, that one only likes the metal brush, this one doesn't like it when you brush over her spine, that one only likes to be brushed from the left side, things like that.

"How do you know which one is which? How do you keep them all straight," Zach asked.

"What do you mean? They all look different, have different personalities, even different smells. You don't see that," Sally asked.

"Well, I can see they're all different colored and have different patterns, but I don't know how you keep all their preferences straight. I need a chart or something; I'll never remember all this stuff," Zach said.

"Well, lucky for you I'll be back to work soon and you won't have to cover for me anymore," Sally said.

"I really don't mind. I _like_ the horses and I'm learning a lot about them, it's just sometimes I get the feeling that they don't really like _me_ much. They seem to tolerate me being around while they actually come to you when they see you. It's like you're the horse whisperer or something," he teased.

They continued to work their way down the stalls, Sally kept trying to move the bucket herself but Zach would reprimand her and make her let him do it and help her to the next stall. By the time they finished, it was getting close to dinner time.

"You want to stay here for dinner before I take you back," Zach asked. "You still feeling okay?"

Sally smiled at him. "Sure, I'm just fine. I'm gettin' pretty tired of you carrying me around everywhere though. I just want to get back to normal already," Sally complained.

"You seem to be making really good progress. I bet you'll be back on your own two feet in no time. Then I won't have anyone to talk to again, you'll be too busy to hang out with me, what with all your chores and training-" Zach cut himself short, knowing he shouldn't have said anything about training exercises. But Sally didn't react like he expected.

"I think my training days are over… I learned plenty on the last trip," Sally said darkly. "I never really knew how awful people could be to one another… now that I know... I'll be much more cautious in how I deal with strangers in the future."

"Not everyone left out there is bad, Sally," Zach reminded her. "But I know what you mean. Sometimes you experience something so powerful that there's no way to keep it from influencing you in the future. It just does. It's like that with both good things and bad things," Zach said.

Sally was quiet, when Zach looked at her to make sure she was still with him it was clear she was thinking hard about something. Zach didn't want to pressure the girl, though, so he just waited for her to speak her mind, figuring she was working her way up to something. Eventually, he was proven right.

"Do you think I'll ever be normal again," Sally finally asked him in a small voice. She sat forlornly on the bucket while Zach cleaned the brushes out, staring at the ground.

Zach put the brushes down and knelt down in front of Sally so she had to look at him. When she still wouldn't raise her eyes, Zach gently put a finger under her chin and tilted her face up to meet his. "Don't you ever be afraid to look anyone in the eye, you hear me? You aren't a freak, you aren't less than anyone else, you aren't damaged, you're just you: Sally. The girl who knows everything about horses and can hit a bullseye with a throwing knife from twenty feet away; the girl who can bring a smile to everyone's face just by entering the room and who always thinks of others before herself. You're smart, funny and quick-witted, fast on your feet and someone who I am proud to call my friend. If anyone can overcome the things that you've experienced, you can. I'm sure of it. You just gotta keep working at it and keep trying to get it out," Zach said. patting her on her good leg.

Sally had raised her eyes while Zach talked to her and tears had started to form and run down her cheeks about the time he said she wasn't damaged. Zach smiled at her and Sally wiped the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand.

"You really think I'm not a freak," she asked him.

"You're no more of a freak than I am," Zach said confidently. Sally laughed.

"So I _am_ a freak, then," she teased. That got both of them laughing.

"Thanks, a lot," Zach said with a grin. "Well, at least we're freaks together," he said as he stood up to put the brushes away. He tossed them in the bucket in the tack room and returned to help Sally up from her bucket.

"Hey, you wanna do something that Dr. Benson will probably frown upon," Sally asked him suddenly.

"As long as it doesn't mean letting you walk anywhere, I guess I could be on board. What did you have in mind," Zach asked, his curiosity peaked.

"I want to take a short horse ride. Will you saddle a horse for me," she asked hopefully.

"You can't go by yourself," Zach said, slightly alarmed.

"Oh, no, I don't want to go by myself, I meant I wanted you to come with me, I just need you to saddle the horse," she clarified. "I know you wouldn't let me go alone right now."

"Well in that case I supposed I can't deny such a simple request. Let me just tell someone that we're leaving the barn. How long do you think it will be," he asked her.

"Not long. Maybe an hour," she answered.

After letting Ellie know that he was going to take Sally out for a short ride, Zach saddled two horses. He walked one of them over to the tailgate of a pickup and handed the reins to Ellie since she was standing there. Then he went and collected Sally. With Tim's help they got Sally up onto the tailgate and then on the horse.

Zach had chosen his favorite horse for Sally to ride. The older mare, a beautiful strawberry roan named Ginger, was sure of foot and mild mannered. Billy had been the one to suggest Zach ride Ginger since he knew that Zach didn't have a lot of experience riding horses.

The horse Zach chose for himself was a younger dapple grey mare the kids had nicknamed Oreo. She was extremely friendly and she behaved more like a family pet than a work animal. She was often allowed to "hang out" around the barn instead of being in her stall because she loved to follow the children around when they played hide and seek. She would inevitably reveal the "hider" to the "seeker" since it was hard to miss an oreo colored quarter horse standing next to the bushes. The kids didn't mind though, and games usually ended with the kids helping each other up on Oreo's bare back and then sliding off the other side.

"Where are you two headed," Ellie asked them as they got ready to head out. "Dinner's pretty soon."

"I don't know. Where we headed, Sally," Zach asked.

Sally bit her lip and looked uncomfortable for a moment before she answered. "Actually, I was kinda hoping we could go to my old house. Just for a few minutes," Sally added quickly.

Ellie looked at Sally for a moment before whispering something to Tim, who immediately turned and went into the barn.

"You sure about this," she asked Sally, looking her dead in the eye. Sally kept the eye contact the whole time as she answered.

"Yes. I'm sure," she said confidently. "I promise Ellie, I'm okay. I just need to see something," Sally added in a lower voice.

Ellie nodded at her. "And what about you, Zach? You sure about this," she asked him.

Zach nodded. "Yes, I'm sure. I've got my gun and knife, it isn't that far and it should be clear. We won't be long."

Tim walked back up from the barn carrying a rifle and a walkie and handed both to Zach. "Better safe than sorry, you know," Tim said. "You call us if you run into anythin' at all and we'll come runnin'."

"Where's your knives, kid," Ellie asked Sally. Sally shrugged.

"I don't actually know where they are," she responded, clearly realizing for the first time that she was weaponless. She looked to Zach for an answer.

"'Think Alex has 'em," Jake ground out. "Don't know what she did with 'em though."

"That's okay," Ellie interrupted as she removed her own hunting knife from her belt. "You wearin' a belt," she asked. Sally nodded. "Here," she said as she handed the knife to Sally. "Be careful, it's my favorite one," she said with a wink. Sally slipped the knife onto her belt, thanked Ellie again and then they headed out.


	16. Chapter 16 - Into the Great Wide Open

10

Zach and Sally rode slowly down the dirt road towards her old house. Sally felt every step Ginger took in her ribs, but after a while she got used to it and it became more of a dull, annoying ache. The closer they got to her old house the tighter the feeling in the pit of her stomach became. She hadn't planned on coming here until Zach asked her where they were going. She had just wanted to go _somewhere_. But when Zach asked the question, Sally was overwhelmed with the urge to go _home._ She knew it wasn't going to look anything like she remembered it since they had stripped practically everything of use from the house months ago. She clearly remembered the image of the last time she set foot in her house… the moment her father exited the office and turned the corner heading for her and her brother… the smell of blood and guts filled her nostrils, though the event had happened half a year ago. Sally shook her head to try to rid herself of both the image and the smell. Zach noticed.

"You sure you want to do this? We could just hang out here for a while and head back… I won't tell anyone," he said earnestly.

Sally let out a small laugh. "No, I'm okay… I was just thinking about the last time I was there… what it looked like… what my parent's looked like… my dad was… I think he ate my mom," Sally said slowly and quietly. Zach just nodded, but didn't say anything.

"I remember his face… it was all covered in blood… it's what Buck looked like after he bit me… everything hurt so bad already and my head was spinning and I couldn't focus on anything else, just the blood dripping down his mouth and chin…" Sally's voice faded out and they continued to ride in silence.

"You know I told him my name was Sydney? When he asked my name that was the first thing that came to mind. My best friend's name was Sydney… we went to school together since preschool… our mom's were friends too… for some reason I just couldn't tell him my real name… I didn't want him to say it. Is that weird," she asked Zach.

Zach shook his head. "No, I don't think so. I mean, I get it. It's like him saying your name would somehow make it dirty or bad, like him, right," Zach asked her.

Sally nodded vigorously. "Yes, that's exactly it," she exclaimed. "How did you know," she asked.

Zach gave her a sad smile. "It's actually because of something my brother said once about Alex… that the way she said his name made him feel like he was on top of the world. I never realized how crazy he was, but he truly believed he loved her, at least in the beginning… but anyway, I thought the opposite must be true as well. You know, because he's a bad guy anything he _says_ is bad too. Even something as innocent as a name… or a term of endearment like darlin'," Zach said cautiously.

Sally could feel Zach's eyes on her as he finished talking. She wasn't mad though. He was right. It was just a word. It wasn't bad because Buck said it.. and her name, and by proxy Sally herself, were not tainted simply because Buck said her name or because he'd hurt her. _He_ was the bad one, not her.

Sally looked over at Zach and shrugged. "Made more sense at the time… seems kinda silly now… besides, if I let Buck take words away from me it's like he's still in control," Sally said.

"And he's not in control," Zach prompted her.

"No," Sally agreed. "He's not in control."

They continued to talk the rest of the way there, Sally told Zach about the training run from the beginning. She only got as far as the men sneaking into the house when they reached the closed front gate to her house. Zach hopped down and let them through, closing the gate behind them. They still had regular patrols sweeping the cleared areas, so they were fairly confident that there weren't any dead wandering around, but both Sally and Zach were on high alert because they were outside the fences.

They rode in silence to the house, Zach held his rifle at the ready. Sally didn't sense any danger though. Something about this place felt safe, even though this was really where it all began to go wrong for her. She'd lost everything here. They arrived at the house and sat on their horses for a moment, evaluating the house. Everything looked like it had when they'd cleaned it out, Zach had been on that run. Still, there was no such thing as too careful.

"Come on, help me down," Sally said to Zach. He helped her down and carried her to the stairs to the front porch.

"I should probably go up first and make sure everything is clear, just to be safe. Here," he said, handing her his pistol. "Just in case. I won't be long," he said.

Sally checked the safety, made sure there was a round in the chamber and nodded to him. Then she leaned against the railing, keeping the weight off her bad leg, and kept watch, looking in all directions to be sure nothing snuck up on them. Zach wasn't gone long.

"It's all clear," he said as he walked back down the steps moments later. "Nothing's been touched since we came to clean the place out. We rigged the doors with tiny threads so we could easily tell if someone that wasn't us came through, after that kid almost killed Jake and Ellie on that one run. Come on," he said.

Zach slung his rifle over his shoulder and scooped Sally up in both arms to carry her up the stairs. He carried her inside and set her down in the barren living room. Sally stood there, looking around.

"It's so empty and lifeless," Sally said.

When they went through and cleared the various ranch houses of their belongings, most things were left on the walls, pictures and paintings served no purpose in the apocalypse. Sally went to the wall and pulled down the last picture her family had taken together.

"I wish I could remember them looking like this instead," Sally said wistfully. "This was on Mother's Day, right before the turn. See this necklace," she said, pointing at her mother's neck. "Simon and I saved up our allowance all year to buy it for her… she loved those little charm bracelets and we found a necklace to match. She was so happy when she opened the box…"

Sally smashed the glass on the fireplace mantle and pulled the picture out. She folded it carefully and put it in her back pocket, dropping the broken frame to the floor. She briefly looked around at the other pictures on the wall, but none of them caught her eye. "Come on," she said, taking a few steps on her own.

"Hold up," Zach said as he approached her. He picked her up again and asked her where they were headed once she was settled in his arms.

"My room's upstairs, last one on the left," she said.

Zach carried her up the stairs and down the hall to her room. He set her down outside the door and opened it, taking a quick peek around the room just to be safe. He reached to pick Sally up again but she pushed his hand away gently.

"I can take a few steps to get into the room, I'm not totally inept, you know," she said as she slipped past him and into the room. She wasn't going to admit it, but she could feel the stitches in her thigh pulling after the first couple of steps. She tried taking smaller steps to see if that would help. She didn't want Zach to notice that it bothered her, otherwise he would insist on carrying her.

Her room was barren - when they'd cleaned the place out at the beginning of everything, Jake made sure to clear out everything they could from her room so she could have it all in her new room at the ranch. Now she looked around at the remnants of her old life, tossed about and deposited on the floor like a twister had come through. Sally shuffled through the papers and broken toys, old clothes and random junk. Her TV and Playstation sat dejectedly on the floor, the table they'd once lived on now reclaimed and in use somewhere on the ranch she supposed. She kicked the pile of video games with her foot, scattering them about.

"I'm pretty sure we got everything when we came through. I was with Jake, he and Ellie took special care to bring back all of your stuff," Zach told her.

"I know… I'm pretty sure you guys wouldn't have found this, though," she said as she slowly crossed to her closet. It was dark, but Sally didn't need light to feel the loose board on the floor. She popped it out with her fingers and removed the shoebox from the small hidden space. Sally smiled as she pulled the box to her chest and exited the closet. Zach was watching her with curiosity. She turned her back to the barren wall and used it to slide herself down into a seated position, keeping her bad leg out straight in front of her. Then she put the box between her legs and removed the lid, revealing the contents.

"What's all this," Zack asked as he took a seat on the floor in front of her.

"Lots of stuff… bits and pieces of things from everyone in my family and my old friends. Just little things that reminded me of fun things we did together or something like that," she explained as she pulled out the first item, a fairly large piece of green sea glass. "My dad found this the first time I can remember my parents taking me to the ocean. We spent the whole day climbing around on the rocks, poking around in the tidepools and discovering all of the different weird creatures that live there. Dad found this piece of glass right after he'd pulled a small octopus out of the water and scared me half to death with it… after explaining to me about the octopus he explained how the sea glass got to be there." Sally rubbed the smooth glass between her fingers before placing it on the floor and pulling out the next item.

"This was my mother's," she said, showing Zach a rather scary looking china doll. "It used to sit on display in the hutch in her room, but she gave it to me on my eighth birthday because that's when her grandmother had given it to her. I never told her how much it scared me… there's something about the eyes that bother me. She told me that it was the very first real, new toy that she'd ever gotten, having grown up poor. She said that year her grandmother had won first place at the county fair quilting contest and she set aside some of the money for a special treat for her only granddaughter," Sally explained. "I never heard her say that the doll scared her, but I have a hard time believing the thing didn't scare everyone that laid eyes on it," she said.

"The thing is kinda creepy, I'll admit," Zach said. "What's that one's story," he asked, pointing to a feather in the box. Sally carefully removed the long and brownish red feather and held it out for Zach to take.

"I found this one day while I was playing with Simon. We were further away from the house than usual - we'd seen some rocks that we wanted to climb and tried to get to them, but they ended up being further away than I thought. We climbed up the rocks; the very top of the biggest one was slightly higher than the trees surrounding it and when we got up there we found a big bird nest at the top of a tree. There were babies in the nest. Me and Simon just laid there on the rock and watched the babies and pretty soon the mama came back and started feeding them. I found the feather under the tree on our way back home," Sally told him.

"Was that why you kept it, because of the baby birds," Zach asked, looking for the significance of the object.

Sally laughed. "No, I kept it because it was the first time Simon and I ever got in trouble for coming home late… we didn't get home until after dark and our parents were worried sick. I kept it as a reminder that there are things that are worth getting in trouble for."

"Like watching mama birds puke into their baby's mouths," he asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

"Yep. Totally worth it to watch the puke-fest," she said laughing.

They went through the rest of the box, Sally explaining the significance of each object. When they got to the last item, Sally pulled it out with reverence and let the locket dangle from the chain, showing it off. "This was my grandmother's… my dad's mom… she left this to me in her will when she died. She wore it everyday." Sally opened the locket to reveal the picture inside. "This is my grandparents, great-grandparents and my dad on the day he was born," she explained, showing the picture to Zach. "This one is my grandparents, my parents and me on the day I was born. I was her first girl grandchild… she was always telling me how important family is and how important it is to share our experiences with the next generation so they can learn from our mistakes. She told me on the day my brother was born that he was my responsibility, that I was my brothers' keeper…" Sally got quiet for a moment. "Here, will you help me put it on," she asked Zach.

"Sure," he replied. "We should get back. It's already been longer than we said we'd be gone," he said when he finished clasping the necklace.

Sally repacked all the items in the box and looked around for something to tie it closed with for the ride back. Zach found a worn out pair of sneakers in the next room and she used the laces to secure the contents.

"Anything else before we go," Zach asked her.

Sally shook her head. "Nope. We can go," she said.

"Alrighty then," he said as he swept her up in his arms, box and all. "Let's get out of here."

§

Alex ran blindly down the hill towards the creek, until she tripped on a branch and went flying. She barely managed to get her hands out in front of her before she hit the ground and she hit her knee and chin on the hard ground. The impact knocked the wind out of her and Alex just laid there as she tried to recover her breath.

She was still crying and couldn't really see anything other than blurs of blue and green. Gradually air found its way back into her lungs and Alex sat up and began checking her injuries. Her knee was painful but she could bend it and her chin was bleeding, but nothing major. She gave herself another minute before getting up and testing her weight on the knee. Pain shot up her leg, but after a few steps it dulled enough that she could ignore it and continue on.

At that realization, Alex looked around to see where she was. She rubbed her eyes, forcing the tears away as she realized she wasn't far from the orchards. Alex didn't know where she was going or what she was doing. The blind panic that had forced her out of the house had subsided but she was still angry and she didn't want to see anyone. She sat back down on the ground and tried to figure out just what the hell she was doing.

As far as she could tell, Jake thought she was so fucked up that she couldn't be trusted with weapons, but she'd used a razor to cut herself, not her hunting knife. And she wasn't going to shoot herself, so she didn't understand why he'd taken her guns too.

" _Everyone's better off without you,"_ her inner voice of self-loathing reminded her.

It was true. If not for Alex, Sally would be unharmed. If not for Alex, Jake would be able to just worry about running the ranch, not taking care of her. The more she thought about it, the more she knew those things to be true. She was just getting in the way.

" _You should just leave, they don't need you,"_ self-loathing insisted.

"Maybe I _should_ leave," she said out loud.

§

It was getting close to dark when Alex arrived at her chosen destination. After deciding that she was going to leave the ranch, she didn't waste any time getting out of dodge. Her first priority was to find a weapon, and since they'd cleaned out all the places within a five mile radius, she was going to have to work for it. She figured she'd head east, towards their small town but not on the road. The only person she came across as she left the property was a single person on perimeter patrol. Alex waited in the bushes for him to be on his way before she came out of hiding and slipped through the fence. She'd considered knocking him out and taking his weapons, but she just wanted to get out of here without incident. The last thing she wanted was to give someone a reason to come after her.

Her first stop was a small farmhouse about two miles from the ranch. They'd come here to clean it out, but they'd cleared this area last since Billy and Tim had cleared this area out prior to moving out to the ranch. By the time they got to clearing the place of useful belongings, they were already well stocked. Alex thought there was a good chance that something had gotten overlooked here.

Alex had found a sturdy stick to use to bludgeon any dead that she came across and she held it at the ready as she pounded on the front door after looking through the windows and not seeing anything of concern. After a moment of silence, she opened the door and stepped inside. The room was covered in a layer of dust and the contents of the house had been upended and tossed about carelessly.

Alex closed the door behind her and moved to check that the rest of the house was clear. When she was satisfied that she was alone, Alex began in the living room, sifting through the things that were left, setting aside anything that could be useful to her. She moved from room to room, leaving little piles of treasure in each.

Off the kitchen was a laundry room, which looked like it had been missed. Things were not all upended and on the floor. Alex carefully looked through everything, even checking behind the washer and dryer. In the back of the utility closet she found a shotgun, after rummaging around the shelves she found a partially full box of shells for it. She piled her findings on the floor and moved into the bedrooms.

She didn't find anything useful in the children's rooms, but the master bedroom was a bounty. Alex found a backpack full of emergency rations - bottled water, canned food, MRE's, waterproof matches, basically a bug out bag which had somehow been overlooked by the team that cleared this place. She also found a decent hunting knife and some clothes that fit her.

She moved all of her piles to the living room and began going through her goodies. She sorted everything and then began the process of picking and choosing what she could take with her. The shotgun was actually the least useful thing that she'd found. Alex hated them, they were for people with no actual skill at shooting. It was almost impossible to miss whatever you were aiming for with a shotgun. But it was loud, and Alex didn't want anything that made noise. She needed to exist in silence now. Like a ghost. She regrettably set the shotgun and shells aside, they were heavy and bulky and if she wasn't going to shoot the thing, there was really no reason to keep it.

When her new pack was full, Alex looked over the items that she would be leaving behind. There were a number of things that she would like to take with her, but they were too heavy and ultimately, when the choice was between carrying food and water and carrying a crowbar as an alternative weapon, she chose food and water.

Alex set the pack down and rested on her haunches for a moment before sitting down fully with her legs crossed. She was trying to figure out what her next move was. There really wasn't any pressing need for her to go anywhere. She'd found supplies to last for a couple of days and she needed to make a plan about where she was going; though she supposed there really was no point in planning anything since it was just her and it didn't matter where she went. One direction was as good as another, so long as it kept her away from the Lazy H. She decided to stay put for the night and pick a direction tomorrow.

§

By the time Sally and Zach returned to the Lazy H the sun was just going down. The ride back had been full of conversation, Sally picked up her story about the training run from where she left off and she had just finished telling Zach about the attack on the camp when they rode up to the barn. There were still a number of people out and about, though the usual yellow glow of the fluorescent track lights had been replaced by the soft glow of lanterns. Sally pulled her horse up next to the tailgate of a truck and waited for Zach to help her down.

"You two were gone a while. Everything go okay," Ellie asked as she joined them from the barn. Tim was a few steps behind her.

"Everything was fine," Sally said as Zach lifted her down from the saddle and set her on the tailgate of the truck. "It was just real slow goin' 'cuz of my ribs."

"Well, you two missed dinner, but I'm sure Betty can rustle somethin' up for ya," Tim said.

"We'll head right over after I get the horses brushed down," Zach said. He led the horses towards the stalls while Sally remained seated on the tailgate. She set the box down next to her and looked around at the people present.

"Where's Jake," she asked Ellie and Tim. They looked at each other for a brief moment.

"Um, he's at the house, I think… said he needed a little time to get his head straight before we finished gearing up for the run," Tim said carefully.

Sally could tell something was up. "What's with you two? You're acting all weird, sneaking glances at each other. What gives," Sally asked them point blank.

Tim shifted uncomfortably while Ellie gave nothing away with her reaction. "Well, things are a bit crazy right now, trying to plan a run while simultaneously trying to figure out where Alex ran off to this time," Ellie said with a hint of irritation.

"What do you mean Alex took off," Sally asked, confused. "I thought she was resting at the house."

"Well, she was… but after last night-," Ellie started but Sally interrupted her.

"What happened last night," Sally interjected.

Ellie took a deep breath and looked at Tim, but didn't respond immediately.

"Look, will you quit lookin' at me like that and just tell me what happened? I need to know what's up with Alex," Sally said. "And don't tell me that I should wait for Jake to explain," she added.

"Fine," Ellie said as she exhaled loudly. "Alex was upset at the service, snuck away and downed a whole bottle of booze, took a bath and sliced her arm open. When Jake found her she was under the water… she could have bled out or drowned… Jake took all her weapons away, afraid she would hurt herself. Then the power went out and Jake couldn't go back to check on her because he was busy dealing with that… she ended up bolting after she woke up and got pissed about her knives and guns being taken away," Ellie explained quickly. "Kept asking if she was a prisoner in her own home, nonsense like that."

"And you just let her leave," Sally asked.

"You ever tried to stop her when she had her mind set on doin' somethin'," Tim interjected before Ellie could respond.

Sally nodded slowly. "Yeah, I know, but shouldn't we go look for her or something," Sally asked, defeated.

Ellie shook her head. "Jake said no. Said it was more important to work on our plan and get the power back on. Said there's no point in tryin' to keep someone here if they don't want to be here, even Alex."

"He did," Sally asked with surprise. Ellie nodded. "I can't believe he said that," Sally mumbled.

"Look, hon," Ellie started, "Jake's right - the needs of the many are more important than the needs of the few. Even if it is Alex. If she's not mature enough to stay when she's told to stay then there isn't anything we can do to help her. She has to stay because she wants to stay, not because we're making her."

Sally started to reply but thought better of it. Ellie wasn't wrong, Alex had to stay because she wanted to stay and they couldn't spare the resources to go after her because they had a bigger issue to deal with. But she just couldn't help but feel that someone should go after Alex. They really weren't just going to let her go, were they?

Ellie seemed to read her mind. "Look, I don't know what Jake's plan is, but I doubt he is planning on just leaving her out there on her own forever. But until we can get the power back up and running, she's got to come second," Ellie said.

"I know," Sally said, nodding her head in agreement. "I just… well, I just can't believe she ran away like that… I didn't think she'd just leave me," Sally said, mostly to her shoes.

"I'm sorry, kid," Ellie said, patting Sally's shoulder. Sally took a deep breath and then looked at Ellie.

"So what's the plan? How are we going to get the power back on," she asked, changing the subject away from Alex.

"Jake and Scott are gonna lead a team into Empire Valley, see if they can find the parts they need at the hardware store there. They're leaving at first light," Ellie explained.

"Man, I wish I could help out. This sucks!" Sally huffed. "I can't even cover patrols or anything to help."

"Now, don't worry about that. I'm sure we can find something for you to help out with even though you're a gimp," Ellie said with a grin.

Sally jerked her head to look at Ellie and broke out into a wide grin when she saw she was being teased. "Yeah, well, gimp's gotta work too," she said seriously. "What can I do to help?"

By the time Zach returned from caring for the horses, Ellie had talked to Kathy about Sally and whether there was anything she could do to help her out. Kathy said she had some projects that Sally could work on while sitting and she thought that Betty and Norma might have something for her as well.

"I heard Norma say that without power they were probably going to need more hands to get food prepared, so I'm sure they can find something for her to do too," Kathy said, just as Zach walked up.

"Wait, you're putting her to work in the kitchen? Are you sure that's wise," he asked, teasing. Sally threw a small stick at him in response.

"Don't worry, Zach, I'll make sure you're the only one that gets spit on his food," she said before sticking out her tongue at him.

Zach laughed at her. "Come on, cripple, let's get you some food," Zach said as he scooped her up in his arms. Sally settled the shoebox on her chest as she wrapped her arm around Zach's neck.

Sally told Zach what Ellie had said about Alex and about the plan to go into town. "Do you think you'll be in the party that goes," Sally asked him as he set her down at a picnic table.

"Probably not," he replied. "Jake probably wants the best fighters out there and I'm nothing special. I'm probably more useful here. I'll go see what I can rustle up for us from the kitchen," he said as he turned to head into the bunkhouse.

After a few moments, some of the other kids from the camp showed up and took seats at Sally's table. They talked about the classes she'd missed and how much they hated having to go to school.

"I thought for sure that when the zombies ate my teachers I would never have to go to school again," Sadie Horton lamented. Mumbles of agreement resounded from the others at the table.

"Yeah, how come you're the only one that doesn't have to go to school? What makes you so special? You probably aren't really even hurt," Tommy Sullivan accused.

Sally rolled her eyes. She wasn't feeling especially patient at the moment, not for this shit. She slowly pushed herself up to standing and stepped out from the table. Tommy had been sitting on the tabletop to her right, on the same side of the table as Sally. She took a couple of small steps so she was face to face with him as he sat stock still on the table. She carefully closed the distance between them, standing just slightly in his space. Sally maintained eye contact with him as she slowly raised her shirt to expose her badly bruised ribs. Pained moans rolled through the group.

"Take a good look, dumbass," Sally said acidly as Tommy stared at her exposed skin. "Today's the first day I've been out of bed since I got back. If you think I'm faking I'd be happy to fracture a couple of your ribs for you. Then we can see how much activity you feel up for," she said, letting the hem of her shirt go.

Before Tommy could muster a response, Zach arrived, carefully balancing two plates and two cups. As he reached the table, Sally helped him by taking the plates and setting them down.

"What's up, guys," he asked cheerfully. He had seen part of the confrontation from the bunkhouse, saw Sally show her ribs to the group. It didn't take a brain surgeon to figure out what was going on. "You come to wish Sally a speedy recovery?"

"No, they came to give me shit and call me a liar," Sally spat. "I offered to give Tommy a lesson in pain, but he doesn't seem all that interested," she said as she began picking at her plate.

"I suggest you go find somewhere else to be," Zach warned. "If I hear anything else about you all harassing her I'll see to it that the council finds some hard labor for you to do until you can be decent human beings again."

As soon as Zach was finished the group bolted from the table and Zach and Sally settled in to eat. As Sally picked at her food, Zach cut her apple into bite sized pieces. They finished eating in silence, watching the various goings-on in the yard. Zach bussed their plates when they were finished and then scooped Sally up off the bench.

"You ready to call it a day," he asked.

"Definitely," Sally said with a sigh. "To be honest, I may have pushed myself a little too hard today, riding the horse," she admitted. "My ribs are killing me."

"Well, I won't tell anyone that you're such a wuss," Zach teased.

"Thanks," Sally replied with a grin.

§

Zach left Sally in the capable hands of Nurse Cindy, who helped Sally shower and get ready for bed. Sally, for once, easily accepted her help and didn't complain about it once. She realized she needed help and the fight had gone out of her, at least for the day. She was exhausted.

After Cindy helped her into bed, Sally lay there thinking about Alex and how she wished she hadn't run off. Sally regretted being so angry with her, though she still felt her reaction was warranted. Alex had been acting childish, complaining about her father being alive and having a baby. Sally pinpointed Alex's behavior regarding her father as the reason she blew up on Alex. Sally would give anything to have either one of her parents just show up one day. But she knew that wouldn't happen, she'd seen them both after they turned.

There was a quiet knock on the door and Jake's head appeared as he cracked the door open. "Ya still awake, Sal," Jake whispered.

"Yeah, come on in," Sally replied. She tried to pull herself up to a sitting position, but it hurt too much, so she just lay there, waiting. Jake turned the bedside light on and pulled a chair to her bedside, exhaling deeply when he finally sat down.

"Sorry I haven't been ta check on ya sooner," he said, running his hands through his hair. "How're ya feelin," he asked, looking her over in the dim light.

"I'm feelin' a lot better, for the most part. I rode a horse out to my old place today, though I admit maybe that was pushing things a bit… I'm hurtin' pretty bad now. Glad I went though," she added. "And you don't have to worry about me, I know you've got a lot on your plate. Everyone's taking good care of me. And I'm in good hands with Zach - he won't let me take more than two steps on my own."

"That's good," Jake said with a smile. I heard ya went ta yer place. Ya see anythin' out there," he asked hesitantly.

Sally figured he was hoping she'd seen some sign of Alex out there. "No, nothing," she said, shaking her head. "Place was just like you left it, according to Zach."

There was silence between them for a moment before Sally finally decided to broach the subject on both their minds. "So we aren't going to look for her at all," Sally asked quietly.

Jake exhaled and shrugged his shoulders. " I wanna look fer 'er, believe me Sal. But she chose ta leave, without even so much as a conversation. I ain't sayin' we don't look fer her when we can, after we figure out the power issue, but we can't make her tha priority right now. There's jus' too many other people we're responsible for. I'm sorry I don't got a better answer fer ya, kid," Jake said, shaking his head and looking at his hands.

"I get it, Jake. I really do. I guess I just can't believe she left," Sally said.

"I know. Me neither," Jake said.

"So what's the big plan for tomorrow," Sally asked, changing the subject. "You got your team all set?"

Jake nodded. "Yep. I got our best ready ta roll out at firs' light. Hopefully we'll be back before nightfall with tha parts we need."

"What if they don't have the parts," Sally asked.

"Well, then we're gonna hafta decide if havin' electricity is worth tha fifty mile round trip ta tha closest big town. Could be a real shitstorm if we gotta go inta tha city. Prolly take a miracle ta get us outta there alive," Jake said, disheartened.

"Well, Scott showed up alive after six months, so I think it's fair to say miracles still happen," Sally said.

"True. Too bad she don't see it that way," Jake said, clearly referring to Alex.

"Well, she's slow. Maybe she just hasn't gotten there yet and she'll come to her senses before it's too late," Sally offered.

"Yeah, let's hope she figures it out sooner rather than later," he said quietly. "You sure yer doin' ok," he asked. "Ya start talkin' yet?"

Sally nodded. "Yeah, I started telling Zach about what happened out there… well, a lot of it anyway." She was quiet for a moment before adding, "It does feel a little better, now that it's out… makes it seem a little smaller," Sally said.

"That's great, Sal. Ya keep it up. Ya know ya can talk ta me anytime, but I'm glad yer talkin' ta someone… I can't lose ya too," Jake said, patting her gently on the calf. "I'm gonna be takin' off early, so I won't see ya til we get back. Ya need anythin' just ask Dr. Benson - or Zach - and they'll figure it out fer ya. Hopefully we won't be gone long," Jake said.

He gave Sally a gentle hug and left her to get some sleep. _At least someone will get some rest_ , he thought.


	17. Chapter 17 - All Along the Watchtower

Jake spent a restless night, trying not to think about Alex and hoping against hope to get some sleep before their big run in a few hours. He tried to find a comfortable position, but there wasn't one. Jake got angry at Alex for doing this - making him lose sleep, again, because of an immature decision on her part. He was beyond frustrated with her rapid decline in maturity and he had serious concerns about her mental state and that this may be more than just a passing frustration. She really could be gone for good.

And he wasn't looking for her. It was the hardest thing he'd ever said in his life, "Alex ain't tha priority right now, tha ranch is," and yet it was an easy decision to make. Jake knew without a doubt that the needs of the group - their family - came first. Alex had known that once too.

When his watch on the nightstand hit 3:00, Jake decided to give up on sleep and get the day started. He knew his crew would be ready to leave at first light, which gave him about an hour to himself. He silently moved around the large, empty house as he double checked his supplies and then made his way down to the barn.

Jake focused on the job at hand, doing his best to put all thoughts of Alex out of his mind. He checked and re-checked the weapons supplies they would be taking with them on the run. The barn was surprisingly quiet and Jake was thankful for that. Though the hour was late, or early depending on how you looked at it, you were almost always guaranteed to run into someone coming back from a shift change or heading out on one. Jake was glad there wasn't anyone around this morning. He wasn't up to talking.

When Jake finally had to admit there wasn't anything else for him to check, he reluctantly went out and sat on the tailgate of his truck. He lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply. After a few drags he heard footsteps coming from the direction of the clinic.

"Long night, eh," Scott asked in lieu of a greeting.

Jake nodded. "One a tha longest," he said as he exhaled slowly. "Got everythin' ready ta go though."

Scott joined him on the tailgate in silence while they waited for the others to arrive. Jake held the pack out to Scott and he took a smoke after a moment's hesitation. Jake passed him the lighter, then they sat and smoked, watching as the dark sky began ever so slowly to lighten to grey. Ten minutes later, their group began to emerge from their trailers, wide awake with packs and personal weapons in tow. Jake greeted each person with a quick nod and waited for the entire group to assemble before speaking.

"Alrigh'. Ya'll know tha plan. Fast an' silent all tha way. We don' know what er who's out there an' I don' wanna loose anyone else," he said emphatically. Jake walked over to the table where the maps were laid out; he didn't have to gesture to the rest of the group, they automatically followed his lead. Jake stabbed the map with his index finger, showing the location of the oil company they had recently raided. He then ran his finger across the map to the hardware store that was their destination.

"We ain't gotta clue what's between these two points. Those other guys were some a' tha nastiest I've ever seen, an' I imagine anyone still in tha area's gotta be jus' as bad or worse. This mission is absolutely critical. I been thinkin' ... I've decided fer tha good of our group we gotta shoot first an' ask questions later. If I say we shoot ta kill, ya can't hesitate. Anyone gotta problem with that, speak up now," he said, pausing to look at each person. When he saw there was no dissent, he continued. "Alrigh', let's get goin' then," he said as he led the way to the truck and shouldered his pack and gun. Jake set his front and rear guards, everyone made final adjustments and they set off into the pale gray dawn.

§

Alex woke as soon as the sky began to lighten. It took her a moment to remember where she was and all that had transpired in the previous few days. As she rubbed the sleep from her eyes with the heel of her hands it all started to come back to her. She sat up on her makeshift bed and remembered she had to pick a direction to go in search of supplies. There was nothing but trouble to the north, where Scott had come from, the bad guys that killed Billy were to the east and there was no way she was heading back west. That left south. Unfortunately, due to the terrain, the easiest path South required her to first travel east towards town. Alex didn't relish the thought of venturing that close to town, but she also didn't want to spend days crawling through a brushy canyon if she didn't have to, and going around would cut the travel time in half. Since she was going, she figured she'd check a couple of spots, liquor stores and the like that may have had hidden guns that scavengers missed.

Her decision made, Alex gathered her few belongings and shouldered her pack. After carefully checking outside, she stepped out into the brisk morning air and set her feet in the direction of town.

§

They'd been lucky and the run had gone smoothly since they left the ranch, and for that Jake was grateful. They'd retraced his and Billy's original path to town, Jake couldn't believe it had only been a few days since they'd set out on that fateful trip. So much had changed in that time.

They made it to the enemy camp and carefully surveilled it before they approached. Jake was confident that there wasn't anyone else around, but they couldn't be too careful. When they finally entered the camp it became clear that no one else had been here since they'd cleaned it out. At least that was going their way. They cautiously checked the area before regrouping for the next leg of the journey.

They'd decided to skirt town a bit in order to observe it from afar and remain unseen. Jake again reminded them to be alert, especially since it had been so quiet so far. The group nodded in response and they silently set off.

After about thirty minutes of travel, Scott motioned for them to stop and get down. Everyone crouched down in what concealment there was and held weapons at the ready. Scott signaled to the group what he'd seen - two armed men, just beyond the tree line on the first residential street they could see. Jake peered in that direction and saw the men. They moved about guarded, but not scared, leading Jake to believe they weren't alone. Scott was already looking through the binoculars for their companions. Jake signaled to the rear guard to stay sharp, they were in danger of being ambushed.

The group spent the next hour watching and waiting. The men they were observing soon moved out of view and gave no indication they knew they were being watched. Jake and Scott waited for the men to come back into view, but they soon had to admit it was time to move on though they didn't know which direction they men had gone. They continued moving in the general direction they'd been moving when they stopped - it was not obviously heading the same direction as the men and it took them closer to their target. Jake hoped they'd be able to get a bit closer to town before they had to blow their cover.

When they finally couldn't avoid it any longer, Jake began edging them closer to the buildings. They hadn't seen any signs, other than the two men, of living humans, but there were plenty of dead carcasses lying around. It looked like the townspeople were just left to rot where they dropped; no one had attempted to remove the bodies at any point. Jake considered this to be a good sign - perhaps after the outbreak no one had tried to stay in town, surely if they had they would have attempted to remove the bodies in an effort to keep disease away. Maybe they had been overwhelmed early on in the outbreak.

The group silently and instinctively moved into a tactical formation as they moved from building to building and street to street. They were methodical and careful, but quick and uniform. They travelled less than a mile from the oil company camp to the point where they began to head into town proper, then another ¾ mile to the hardware store through the heart of downtown Empire Valley. Most of the distance they would be out in the open since there weren't many alleyways between the buildings. The hardware store was at the center of it all and there was no covered way to approach it. It was the lone building on the block, the rear of the building opened to the parking lot.

They did their best to stick to the shadows and they made it to the hardware store without incident, but Jake was starting to become uneasy about the lack of live biters they'd encountered. He knew someone, many someone's likely, were responsible for it and he didn't think it was to make town more approachable for other survivors. But they were so close to their objective, and all Jake wanted to do was get everyone out of here in one piece as quickly as possible.

After a thorough perimeter check they began looking for a point of entry. The front doors weren't open, but they clearly weren't going in the front, that felt a bit like a trap. As he studied the building, Jake hated this run more and more. He needed someone to go inside and check it out rather than send everyone in at once, in case it really was a trap. He wasn't about to send anyone in though.

"'M gonna head in through tha window over tha dumpster," Jake whispered to the group as he pointed out the window. "I wan' tha' front an' back entrances covered. Anyone comes out dispose a them as quickly and quietly as possible. When ya hear this," Jake said as he let out complicated low whistle, "You'll know tha place is all clear, so set tha guard an' get inside ta help find what we need."

Everyone nodded their heads in understanding and slipped into their placed. Scott boosted Jake up to the dumpster and waited while he crawled through the window. Jake quickly checked the interior before giving Scott the thumbs up and dropping to the floor with a thud. He raised his gun, clicked on his flashlight and began scanning the area. When he was certain there was no immediate threat Jake slowly began making his way towards the back. When he was satisfied that part was clear, he moved toward the front entrance.

The store was a mess; while there were still items on the shelves, a number of things had been carelessly tossed on the floor, which was also littered with bodies in varying states of decay. Jake was careful to avoid stepping on any of them, just in case some of them were still active. Upon arriving at the front of the store and determining it was all clear, Jake gave the signal and members of his group began filing in through the front, spreading out and beginning their search, having been briefed prior to departure about the part they were looking for.

It wasn't long before they'd checked everything and, not entirely surprisingly, the part wasn't there. Jake briefly consulted with Scott about the possibility of building the part from items they had here, but they'd previously determined they lacked the knowledge to fabricate their own parts.

"Ya sure we can't figure it out," Jake asked Scott again, clearly frustrated with the situation. Scott just shook his head. "Alrigh," Jake exhaled. "Guess we outta get back ta tha ranch an' start figurin' out tha next move."

The team had started gathering near the front entrance, awaiting orders, when James rushed in from the back entrance. "We gotta get out tha back, now! Big group coming up on the front… already took out Seth and Amy with snipers… I got lucky and caught a glare off the gun, looked up just as Amy went down, then Seth dropped right after her. Pretty sure they didn't see me, but they'll be here any second," James rushed out in a hurried whisper as they moved the group to the back entrance.

Jake's mind was going a mile a minute trying to come up with an escape plan that wouldn't get any of his people killed. They quickly checked the surroundings behind the building and Jake started to step out the door when Scott grabbed him by the shoulder, causing Jake to twist awkwardly. At the same time, Jake felt a sharp pain and a burning sensation spread through chest. He looked down and barely had time to register the crimson spot that was rapidly spreading down his shirt before he felt a second pinch and everything went black.

§

Alex slithered into town, slipping from building to building, heading towards the closest place she thought might have something useful to her, the pawn shop. She thought it was easily possible that something got overlooked there. She carefully moved through the narrow alley behind the pawn shop and checked the door: locked solid. Of course it was. She checked the window too but wasn't surprised when it didn't budge. Alex knew she wouldn't get in through the front either; it was practically a fortress back the old world, after all.

The pawn shop and the dress shop next door were very close, there was just enough room for the door to swing open and not hit the dress shop. The pawn shop didn't have a fire escape to the roof, but the dress shop did. Alex managed to move a dumpster close enough to the ladder to get herself up the fire escape and onto the roof, two stories above. The pawn shop roof was close. Alex took a quick look around the town from her new vantage point before making a running leap across the gap. She hit the ground hard, but didn't fall, and quickly set to work prying the roof access open using a hammer she'd found at the farmhouse.

Alex finally pulled the hatch open, hoping the racket hadn't attracted anything below her. She carefully looked through the dim interior, trying to assess. She didn't hear anything, which wasn't very helpful. It looked like the second floor was a residence, probably the shop owners.

She climbed down the ladder a few steps, pausing to let her eyes adjust. The sun was up, but blackout curtains had been hung over the windows, leaving her at a disadvantage. Alex was sure there were no dead in the immediate vicinity, or she would have heard them reacting to her noisy entrance. Humans, however, could be lying in the shadows waiting to make their move.

Alex took another step down the ladder and then jumped the rest of the way, lunging for the nearest curtain and yanking it down to shed some light on her surroundings. She was instantly ready for an attack that never came. After a moment she began moving about the room, which she could now see was a studio apartment. There really wasn't anywhere for someone to hide - the bed was a pile of blankets and a mat on the floor. It looked like there hadn't been anyone here in a long while.

She made her way to the stairs and down to the pawn shop. The place was clear except for the shop owner behind the counter which Alex quickly dispatched with the hammer. It looked like the place hadn't been touched, the entrance was still solidly shut and nothing was out of place. Alex couldn't believe her luck, but she wasn't going to push it. She methodically began going through the display cabinets, selecting the best knives, guns and accessories and outfitting herself as she went.

After the displays were cleared, Alex took the keys from the shop owner's belt and began going through the several locked storage rooms. This was what she'd really been looking for. The first room was guns. Lots of guns. Alex picked two AR's and grabbed all the ammo she could for them, then looked around in hopes of finding a silencer as well. She let out a small cry of joy when she found one, tucked away in the bottom of a bag.

Alex set everything down and quickly disassembled the rifles, checking that the firing pins were installed, which she had feared they might not be, making the guns useless. She was thrilled to find that was not the case and that the guns were both in working order. She put them back together, loaded them and attached the silencer to the one she was going to make her main weapon.

After going through the other two locked rooms, Alex had some decisions to make. She'd found a good supply of MRE's and ammo, as well as some really nice guns and even a sword that looked very promising. But Alex was on the run. She couldn't carry everything with her. She didn't really even know where she was going. She'd found the motherlode in terms of supplies, now all she needed was a place to stay. It stood to reason that this place was safe, since no one had touched it in all the time that the world had been shit. But something about it made her uneasy. It had been so easy, everything since she left the Lazy H had been easy. There had to be someone around here that would have a problem with her presence.

Alex decided to pack everything that she would take if she could into duffle bags, eating an MRE while she worked. By the time she was finished, there were four of duffels, stuffed to the gills and far too heavy for her to carry more than one for any distance. Maybe when she figured out where she was going to stay she could come back here and retrieve them.

Not wanting to put the full bags back into the lock ups or leave them in plain sight, should someone make it inside before she could come back, Alex lugged them upstairs. They were all about the same size, and their height was such that they could pass for a bed frame, maybe. Alex moved the bedding, lined the duffles up and laid the mat on top, strewing the blankets about in what she hoped was a realistic manner. She took a step back to evaluate her ruse and, after making a few small adjustments, felt it would be good enough, at least for the passing eye. She couldn't make it look like she hadn't been there, but she could make it look like she'd taken everything useful. She intentionally left the locked doors open, maybe if it looked empty they wouldn't look too hard.

She gathered her things and made her way back up the ladder. There wasn't anyway to fix the hatch, but she closed it the best that she could anyway. Alex carefully made her way to the edge of the roof staying low and looked through the scope of her gun to evaluate the town. She saw some movement a few blocks away, so she pulled out the binocs that she'd found and evaluated the scene. A large group of about thirty armed men were moving in on the hardware store, though they could not yet be seen from the hardware store. Alex saw two people in front of the store suddenly drop.

She raised her scope, looking for the gun that took those shots. She hadn't heard the shots, so they were muffled, and it happened so quickly that it was either two shooters or one really good one. Probably not too far away. She located the building she would use and started studying the windows, looking for any anomalies. It didn't take her long to identify one shooter, but she didn't want to take him out just yet; maybe the people inside the store deserved to die.

From her perch, Alex could see the front and the back entrances to the hardware store. As she swung the scope to the rear entrance, she saw a tall black man approach and enter the door. She recognized him. That either meant her former family was either already in the store or about to go in for an attack. It didn't seem likely that James would go in on an attack alone, which meant they were the target of the large armed group and James was coming to warn them. From what Alex could tell, he was already too late.

The large group had splintered, while one large group stayed in front, just out of sight, two smaller groups slipped around each side of the neighboring buildings, keeping out of sight of the hardware store. As the men got into position, Alex returned her attention to the rear entrance. She was about to pull her eye away and leave - it wasn't her business what happened to them and they'd made it clear that they didn't need or want her - but a sudden movement of the door caused her to stay put.

Alex watched as a body slowly emerged; the thought of leaving left her mind and she was glued to the spot as if watching a horror movie. Jake's face became clear in her sights and she wanted to call out to him to go back inside but she was frozen. Jake's body was suddenly yanked back in the doorway, while at the same time he twitched in an awkward manner. Alex saw crimson start to spread across his chest just as his body completely disappeared inside and the door slammed shut.

Jake. Shot. Jake… Blood… Alex's brain couldn't process what she'd just witnessed. She slumped down from the position she'd been maintaining and put her head on her knees. Was he dead? What was she doing here? How had things come to this, him dying hating her? Moments ago she was going to leave them to their deaths, but seeing Jake, witnessing what was probably his death, spurred her to action. Alex took a deep breath and tried to figure out what to do.

She needed to get down there to the group and get them out of the store. But there were thirty guys and a sniper to get through first. Alex had no clue about the thirty, but she could take out the sniper. She got back into position and lined up the shot. Luckily, the man hadn't moved. He probably was waiting to take a shot himself. Alex had the brief flash of that shot being at her before she pulled the trigger and watched through the scope for any sign of movement behind him. She saw something move in the shadows but couldn't get a clear shot and had to give up. What she really needed was a way to deal with the group at large. Alex remembered something that she'd looked at as ludicrous downstairs, but it would solve ninety percent of her problems now. She dropped everything but her gun and flew back down to the studio. She upended the bed and tore through the duffles looking for the right one.

"Ha," she shouted a bit too loudly when she found the right bag and pulled the grenade launcher out. She'd put it in the bag simply because she didn't want to leave it for someone else to take, but she couldn't imagine needing something like that in the new silent existence she was taking on. Now however, she needed all the firepower she could get. There were only three rounds for it, but hopefully that would suffice. She carefully made her way back up to the rooftop and checked that the roof was still clear.

Alex had never shot one of these things before, but she knew that she should be able to hit all three targets from here, it was just a matter of what order to do it in. The main force had split in three, but the two that split off had regrouped in the rear of the building. They were concealed in one large group and were the easy shot. She would hit them first, that would draw the other group from the front closer in and she could hit them before they got too close to the front entrance. Unless they decided to split up and go around like the other group had, in which case she still had two grenades for them. She could use her rifle to clean up the rest.

Alex looked through the scope of the rocket launcher and hoped her calculations were right. She held her breath as she pulled the trigger, and released it when the kickback hit her. She thought her shot went long, but when it blew it was right in the center of the group. Alex breathed a sigh of relief as she lined up her next shot. The main group in front rushed in, straight for the front entrance. Alex breathed easily as she took the next shot, decimating the attacking force. She switched to her rifle and began taking shots at those still moving near the rear entrance.

By the time she was ready to load a new clip, Alex thought she had cleaned up the back. There was no further movement that she could see through the smoke so she turned her attention to the front. She didn't see anything at first, but as she continued to watch she saw a few men skirting around the far side of the hardware store. Alex wasn't sure how many there were, but they were going to start coming around the back corner any second. She decided to let them come around the corner in hopes of getting all of them out in the open and taking them all out with the last grenade.

She lined up the shot and waited for what felt like hours. Finally she saw the first of them start to creep around the corner. When he deemed it safe, the others quickly followed him out into the open. They were heading for the back door. Alex couldn't let them get too close and risk setting the grenade off too close to the entrance. She didn't want to damage the door or anyone inside, not knowing what their situation was in there. She let the shot off and didn't wait to see the resulting explosion. She knew her shot was good and that she would get most of the group, provided there weren't too many more of them around the corner.

Alex dropped everything except for the rifles and extra clips of ammo and made the jump across to the other rooftop. After getting down the ladder as fast as possible Alex circled a bit to approach the scene from what she hoped would be a surprising angle. She moved fast and stayed low, ready for anything. As she got closer to the site of the first explosion Alex could hear moans of the dead and the soon to be dead. She began taking out the ones that were mobile and could present a threat, leaving the ones that were stuck under other bodies or had legs blown off. She needed her ammo for the living.

She was closing in on the rear entrance to the store, where she'd fired the final grenade. She shot two bodies that looked like they might be able to stand again and then checked around the side of the building for any that were missed by the blast. There must have been some, she didn't think there were enough bodies neat this blast, but maybe she really had hit most of them with the grenade out front. She hurried back to the rear door and tapped the code that they had previously used out on runs, hoping someone would recognize it and come to the door.

After she repeated it a second time, there was muffled noise behind the door and it cracked open, the muzzle of a gun peaked out. Alex was quick to speak.

"Don't shoot! It's me, Alex," she called out. "Is Jake okay," she asked, not knowing what else to say.

The door opened further and James stepped into view, lowering the gun as he saw Alex fully. He looked around at the destruction then back to her, before he seemed to register her question. "He's stable for the moment. We were trying to figure out how to get him back to the ranch. Did you do all this," he asked, looking around at the smoke and destruction.

"Yes," she said quickly. "Look, if he's stable, can you spare a couple people to help me check the area and make sure there aren't any more of them out there? I think their group had about thirty and I've accounted for about half of them I think. We need to get after them while they're weak," Alex insisted.

James nodded and waved her inside. "Come on, we'll get a group together," he said, stepping aside so she could come in.

Alex shook her head. "No, can't see what's comin' from in there. I'll stay out here and keep an eye out until they can get out here," Alex said. "I'm going to wait over there," she said, pointing to the dumpster. It provided at least a little cover. James nodded at her and closed the door, retreating inside. Alex hustled to the dumpster.

It was only a few minutes before James and two others cautiously stepped from the store. Alex waved them over and they made a plan. They split up into two teams, James and Leon, and Alex and John. They took off in different directions around the building, planning to meet near the location of the second explosion.

Alex and John encountered a few of the recently dead and put them down but they didn't see anyone that was still living. They were almost to the corner of the building when something felt off to Alex. She held up her hand, stopping John in his tracks and she listened hard, trying to figure out what it was. Then she heard it again, a faint scraping sound. John nodded that he heard it too and they carefully approached the corner. Alex crouched down and took a peak around the corner, stifling a gasp, before pulling herself back behind the wall. She motioned to John to move back.

"Five walking, in bad shape, at least as many on the ground still moving," Alex whispered to him quickly. "The others should be rounding the corner soon, come on, I'll go high, you go low," she said as she turned back to the corner. John nodded and followed her lead.

The others had just come around the opposite corner a second before and drawn the attention of the walkers. Alex went straight for them while John took care of the ones on the ground. Between the four of them they had the area secured in no time. After a quick count, Alex figured she'd now accounted for at least twenty five bodies, plus the sniper. She never got an accurate count of the group but she had a feeling there were still a few bodies unaccounted for. Plus the shadow she'd seen move behind the sniper. They either needed to start tracking survivors or get the hell out of there. And with all the noise she'd just made, there was more trouble on the way.

"You guys head back," Alex said. "I think there's a few more of them, but we really need to get out of here. Those grenades… I just rang the dinner bell for the dead. We don't have long. You guys go get everyone out. There should still be a couple trucks left at the oil company that you can use to get back to the ranch," she said. "I'm going after the rest of the living."

James turned to her. "We'll get them moving and head towards the oil company. Hopefully we'll find a truck long before we get there though. You meet up with us as soon as you can."

Alex nodded.

"I'm going with you," Leon said to her.

Alex shook her head. She wasn't looking for a partner. Or someone else to get killed.

"I didn't ask," Leon said, walking past her following the path of dead bodies down the street. That was the same direction Alex had intended to go and she had no choice but to follow along. There wasn't time to argue.


	18. Chapter 18 Band on the Run

It actually turned out to be a good thing that Leon insisted on going with her. It didn't take him long to find the trail of the men that had survived and within minutes they had caught up to the small group. There were four men, all but one of them injured and bleeding. They didn't seem to be fleeing with any sort of plan, just running for their lives.

Leon paused and took out two of the three injured with shots to the back of the head. Alex took out the third, leaving just the uninjured man running alone. When his companions dropped, he panicked, throwing his hands up in the air and yelling at them not to shoot him. Alex covered him while Leon checked the man for weapons. When he wouldn't quit babbling to them to not kill him, Leon punched him hard in the face, sending the man to the ground.

"Best shut your damn mouth. One more noise outta you and I'm gonna slit your throat and let you drown in your own blood," Leon threatened, running the blade of his knife under the man's throat. Leon pulled a zip tie out of his pocket and zipped the man's hands together behind his back after taking his knife and gun. He took the bandana out of his back pocket and used it as a gag, effectively silencing their prisoner.

They hadn't spoken to one another about it, but Leon and Alex were clearly on the same page when it came to taking a prisoner for intel. That group was really big and they needed to make sure they weren't part of a larger encampment that would come looking for revenge. Once the man was secured, Alex and Leon headed back to the hardware store. It had taken them less than ten minutes to wrap things up and the group should have been on their way to the oil company by now. With Jake in such bad shape though they would be moving pretty slow until they got a vehicle.

When they got close to the store, John waved to them from a nearby corner and they hurried to his location.

"Group's about three minutes ahead of us, that way," he said, pointing towards the oil company. "James saw some trucks that looked promising on the way in and they're going to check them out on the way. Come on."

Alex wanted to go back for her supplies - she'd left everything on the roof of the pawn shop in an effort to move quickly. But she also wanted to make sure Jake was alright. Before she could think any more about it, John moved off in a trot and Leon and the prisoner followed suit. Alex fell in with them, watching their back trail.

It didn't take them long to catch up with the group, stopped at a car dealership where James was busy hot wiring a truck. Alex initially hung back, but when she saw Jake laying there unconscious in the truck bed, she couldn't stay away. She approached quietly while the group was talking and took Jake's hand in hers. She didn't notice Scott come up behind her.

"He's not good, but he could be worse," Scott said quietly. "It's a good thing you showed up when you did." He gently placed his hand on Alex's shoulder. Alex tensed slightly but didn't flinch at the move. "Whatever happened before, I need to know, are you good now," Scott asked emphatically.

Alex raised her eyes from Jake's pale face. Was she good now? What did that even mean? "I don't know about good, but I'm here and I want to help. Whatever it takes," she said firmly. Alex wasn't sure if she was all good, but she knew she wanted Jake to live and that meant she would do whatever was needed of her.

"Good. Because you and I are going on a run," Scott said in a low voice so the others couldn't hear. Alex's interest was piqued and she looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Look, without power, Jake may not make it. We've got the generators and enough fuel for the short term, but if they need to do multiple surgeries or if other people get hurt, we could be screwed. The best thing we can do is find the part we need to get back up and running. That's why we came out here and what Jake risked his life for," he told her.

"So let's go back to the hardware store and get the part," Alex said, as if she was irritated that they weren't already moving.

"That's just it. We've got to go to a bigger town for it. I know for sure there's a store in Auburn where we got most of the parts for the solar set up. If they don't have it, we probably are shit out of luck on the power front. So, what do you think? Are you up for it," Scott asked hopefully.

Alex didn't have to think. It's what Jake would do. "Yep. There's just one thing, though," she said.

"What's that," Scott asked.

"All my supplies are up on the roof of the pawn shop. And by supplies I mean everything that was in the pawn shop, all the guns, food, everything," she said.

"Well, let's get moving then. If we hurry we might even be able to make it to Auburn before nightfall," Scott said. "Just give me a minute to work things out with James," he said as he walked away towards the cab.

Alex leaned down to Jake's face and whispered," I'm so sorry, Jake. For everything. This is all my fault. I'm gonna go with Scott and we're gonna bring back the part to fix the power. Don't you give up, you fight damn it! I'll be back soon," she said, placing a soft kiss on his cold forehead. She squeezed his hand before letting it go and resting it at his side.

Scott explained to the group what he and Alex were going to do. "It's thirty miles as the crow flies, and we're gonna have to do it on foot. No telling what's between here and there, Alex and I are going to avoid contact as much as possible. Assuming there's no problems, which there will be, we could be back before nightfall tomorrow. In the meantime, do everything possible to save Jake. Increase the number of people on watch and suspend all runs unless it's an emergency. We've drawn a lot of attention to ourselves, but hopefully they won't come looking for us if we're lucky," Scott directed the group hurriedly.

"We've got our friend here to help us unravel the mystery of our attackers," Leon said. "I'm sure he'll be able to share some helpful information with us, given the right incentive," Leon added with a twisted smile. Alex was kinda sad she was going to miss out on providing him with incentive. She knew Leon was the only other person for the job though.

"Let's hope that's the case," Scott said.

Just then the truck roared to life and the group began loading into the truck, taking care to support Jake's limp body as much as possible. When the last person was in, James slowly rolled them out of the parking lot and headed for home. Alex and Scott hightailed it for the pawn shop.

They were careful to keep watch for the living and the dead, and they only had to dispense of a dozen or so dead ones before reaching the alleyway. They climbed up the ladder and Scott watched nervously as Alex took a running leap across the gap between the buildings. When she was safe on the other side, he followed suit, stumbling a bit on the landing, but managing to avoid hurting himself. Alex grabbed her pack and led Scott down the stairs to the studio where she'd left the duffels.

"Holy shit," Scott said in awe. "You mean to tell me this place wasn't touched?" Alex shook her head. "I don't believe it. This would have been one of the first places on my list to check out. Lucky for us someone wasn't thinking," he said as he join Alex on the floor.

They dumped out their respective packs and quickly divided the most crucial items that would serve them well on the road, mainly ammo, water and lightweight food items. Scott helped Alex repack the duffels and cover them with the bedding in hopes no one else would find their bounty. When they got back from the run and everything was fixed, maybe they could come back and pick the stuff up.

Making the jump back over was a bit more nerve racking - they'd added at least fifty pounds to each of their packs and Scott was sailing through the air when he realized it was going to be a close call. He landed with his heels on the edge of the roof, but Alex was ready and she grabbed Scott and pulled him away from the edge. They hurried down the ladder and took off to the south.

§

Sally did her best to keep her mind on her work in front of her, every time she let her mind wander to the run or Alex she missed the basket she was sorting clothes into, making her get up to pick up the dropped items. Which wouldn't have been a problem if her leg was healed, but every time she had to bend over it caused a sharp pain to shoot through her thigh, like the muscles were tearing. She knew they weren't, as there was no blood seeping into her bandage, but it hurt like hell. She hated being injured.

Sally had gotten up pretty early and caught a ride to the barn with Doc Hobbs when came to check on things. He helped her to the bunkhouse where she spent the morning helping Betty and Norma prepare breakfast. The women were so warm and doting, Sally could almost forget that it was the end of the world and everyone she knew and loved was dead. That thought would just bring her back to Alex running away and leaving her there and Jake being out on the run. At least Zach was around, or would be in a few hours. He was out on the perimeter, keeping them safe. Sally wished she could help out on the line as well.

But she was here in the barn, helping Kathy instead. Once she'd finished with breakfast, Tim had helped her over to the sorting area where Kathy was working on sorting clothing items that had come in from runs. They had so much stuff that it had taken them months to get things sorted beyond a men's pile, a women's pile and a children's pile. Sally was currently sorting the women's clothing by size into different baskets.

When Sally asked Tim about the run, he said that they'd left as planned, at first light. They weren't expected to return until that afternoon or early evening, and most people seemed to have no problems focusing on their regular jobs. Sally just wanted to do something useful. She'd been sorting for a couple of hours and was bored out of her skull. When she heard commotion out in front of the barn she couldn't help but hobble her way out there to see what it was.

Tim and Ellie were hollering at people, organizing them into groups and sending them out to the perimeter from what she could hear. People were moving about frantically and scattering in different directions to the watch outposts. Sally hung back out of the way but tried to get close enough to hear what was coming over the walkie.

"... hurt bad… be… five…," she was able to make out. Someone was hurt… were they under attack? Had someone followed the party back? And why were they back so soon? The more Sally heard the more questions she had.

"Are we under attack," Sally asked as she hobbled up to Tim and Ellie. They both turned to look at her.

"Not yet," Ellie said. "Run went bad, Jake got shot, somehow they got out of it and back here, but that's all we know right now. They found a truck and drove back, because of the injured I guess. I hope it's not that bad," she said, turning back to Tim.

"I just let the clinic know they've got incoming," Tim said. "I'm gonna make sure the generators are ready to go and take the gas truck down there so we're ready to fill the tanks when they run dry. You got things here," he asked Ellie.

She nodded. "Yep. I'll let you know if anything changes," she replied.

"What can I do to help," Sally asked her after Tim headed off.

"I think we're okay for the moment," Ellie said. "Here, let me help you," she said, seeing Sally try to adjust to a more comfortable position on the apple crate she'd found. Ellie helped her over to the tailgate of one of the trucks and handed her one of the walkies. "The perimeter guards should be calling in as reinforcements reach their locations. There should be six teams checking in. Think you can handle this for me," Ellie asked. Sally nodded. "Good. I won't be long. Gonna go talk to the ladies in the bunkhouse and make sure they get over to the clinic to help out, in case we do come under attack and it's all hands on deck. If anything unusual comes across, radio Tim at the clinic, I'll be back in five."

Sally nodded and waited for the calls to start coming in. By the time the first two groups had called in, the truck was speeding through the gate and heading straight to the clinic. Sally could see the back was full of people, but couldn't tell any more than that. Jake must have been in bad shape for them to be in such a hurry. She radioed to the clinic that the truck would be there momentarily. Nurse Cindy replied with a cheery, "Thank you."

Several more teams called in and Sally acknowledged each one. There was just one left to call in. Ellie returned and Sally handed her back the walkie, filling her in on the last few minutes. A few minutes after the final group radioed in, people began filling over the hill from the clinic, heading towards the barn. From far away, Sally thought it was pretty clear that the run had not gone well.

People began to gather around, waiting for word on what went down out there. The atmosphere was tense; faces of the group were grim. Once everyone from the run that had walked up from the clinic was present, people started asking questions about what happened. Ellie held her hand up for silence and a hush fell over the growing crowd.

"Let's hear from just one person," Ellie said, looking at John.

John nodded. "Things went smooth until we got to the hardware store. Turns out it was an ambush, once we were inside they took out two of our lookouts." John paused for a moment; when he realized people were waiting for him to tell them who died. "Amy and Seth. They were watching the front… James was with them, managed to get away to warn us, but by then it was too late, they were right on top of us. Jake took two to the chest when he tried to lead us out of the store… I think Scott saved his life by grabbing him just before he got hit. We barricaded ourselves inside so we could get Jake stable… and then we started hearing explosions outside. We thought we were done for, that they were trying to bring the building down on top of us. After a few minutes we realized the explosions weren't knocking down the walls but we had no idea what was happening out there. There was lots of screaming and then gradually it changed to silence. Then there was a knock at the back door, the same tapping we use out on runs sometimes. Turns out it was Alex making all that noise, saving our collective asses. I don't know how she found us, or where she found the fire power, but that crazy girl saved our lives, that's for certain," John explained.

It was quiet for a moment as people let his words sink in. Sally heard what he said, but she was having a hard time making sense of it… Alex had run away before they left for the run. How did she know where they were going? Was she just out there watching and waiting for them? It didn't make any sense.

"Is she at the clinic," Sally asked, painfully trying to lower herself from the tailgate. John shook his head and put his hand on her shoulder to still her movements.

"No, she and Scott took off for Auburn," he said, with another shake of his head. "Took off straight from town, they didn't even take any of our supplies. Scott talked to James before he left, but we took off so quick to get Jake back here I haven't talked to him about the conversation. You'll have to ask him the specifics. He's waiting at the clinic for news about Jake," James finished.

"What about an attack," Ellie asked. "Were you followed?"

"I don't think so. Before we came back, Alex and Leon went and tracked down the few survivors and took them out, except for the one Leon brought back for questioning," James replied.

"Prisoner? Where did he take him," Ellie asked.

"Kept him at the clinic… Doc wanted to take a look at him, though I don't know why. Ain't like he's got long to live with Leon in charge of the questioning," John said with a grim laugh.

"Just as long as we get the info we need out of him, I can't say as I care," Ellie said. "Alright. I need to talk to James, make sure there isn't anything else we need to know before we make some sort of plan," Ellie said as she radioed the clinic. She spoke with Tim briefly before addressing the group.

"Okay, Tim's on his way up with James, Leon and the prisoner. We'll talk to them and plan from there. Kathy, can you take some of the people here and start working on bug-out-bags? I know we've got some supplies already put together in case of emergency, but in case this is the calm before the storm, we should be as prepared as possible," Ellie said to the group that was anxiously waiting. "Does everyone remember our evac plan," she asked. People nodded in agreement. "Good. John, will you help coordinate the evac vehicles, make sure they're fueled and loaded with supplies?"

"Sure thing," John said, gesturing to several members of the group. People began following John and Kathy, eager to have some way to help.

Sally stayed put, hoping Ellie wouldn't send her off to help too. She wanted to be here to find out what was going on. It was only a few minutes before they heard the truck approaching, and before long James was parking the truck and Leon was roughly shoving the prisoner out of the truck bed. Leon sat the man roughly on the apple crate in the center of the small group, his knife close to the man's neck. Sally stayed frozen in her spot, hopefully invisible to them all.

"You just sit tight, my friends are going to ask you some questions and you're going to answer them, got it," Leon growled. The prisoner nodded but said nothing.

"Alright, James. John told us the gist of what happened out there, but he was missing some of the specifics. Alex saved you guys and then went to Auburn with Scott," Ellie asked incredulously.

"Basically, yeah. Scott said the shop that sold him the solar setup was in Auburn and that if they didn't have the part we need, we wouldn't find it anywhere, so he and Alex went to check it out. Said it's be faster just the two of them, and since time is of the essence they took off before they could even resupply. I'm not really sure how well thought out this move is, to be honest," James said.

"Okay, well, there isn't anything we can do about it anyway. They're long gone. Hopefully Scott knows what he's doing and Alex is up for the challenge. Where did she come from? Was she following you guys," Ellie asked.

James shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea. She barely spoke when I was around. Scott seemed certain she was stable and could handle this though."

"What about the group that attacked you," Tim asked. "What do we know about them?"

Leon jabbed the prisoner in the ribs, "You're up, sunshine."

The prisoner continued to look at the ground while he started talking. "My group came across your trail a couple miles before the oil company. We were coming back from an exploratory run to the south. Our leader said your group was the same one that attacked our group at the oil company and stole all our fuel and women. They were going to kill your men and keep your women company, hopefully after we tortured the location of your camp out of one of them," he drolled out, as if bored.

"That was part of your group? Any more splinter groups out there," Tim asked.

"Nah. We were too big for one camp so we split in two. When you killed everyone at the oil company, the few that were left joined our main group," he answered.

"And you're the only one left? There's no one left at your camp," Tim asked.

"There's a few people there, mostly women and a few older men. Took everyone that could move fast and shoot decent to deal with you guys," came the response.

"You want to make it easy and tell us where it is or is my angry friend going to have to work for it," Ellie asked.

"Shit. I ain't lookin' to get my teeth knocked out. Been talkin real easy with you folks so far, no need to get medieval. Main group was camped out at the old Empire Mine. Not the most comfortable place, but easy to defend and no chance of ambush. No more than ten people left out there and like I said, mostly women. We don't let them have weapons, so at most you've got three guns to worry about from the old timers," he offered.

"Fuck, I never thought about the mine. That's pretty fucking smart," Tim said. "Why you offerin' up all this info?"

The prisoner shook his head slowly. "I don't know how you all ended up together, but I was on my own, trying to stay alive in the first days things went to shit. A small group of these guys found me hiding out in a house and instead of killing me they offered me protection and food. I thought I'd hit the jackpot. They were friendly enough, well-armed and they didn't mind sharing their weapons with me. One guy even taught me how to use a knife so I didn't have to rely on the guns so much. By the time I saw them for what they really were; it was too late for me to leave. They would have just killed me. I was hoping to get away from them eventually, but… well, the time was never right," he explained.

"You knew what they were doing to those women though, and you did nothing," Ellie said.

"Anything I could have done would have gotten me killed and that wouldn't have helped them either. For what it's worth, I never touched any of them or was anything but kind to them," he said.

"Alright," Tim said. "Anything else you think we should know," he asked.

"I know you've got to kill me. I just ask that it be quick. I tried my best to be a decent person but it's just not a decent person's world anymore! I did what I had to survive, just like you," he said, trying to hide his emotions. "You aren't going to go kill the women, are you? You guys don't seem like that."

"We ain't in the business of killin' just to kill," Ellie said. "We'll take what you've said into consideration. In the meantime, Tim's going to get you settled in the lock up and then we'll get you fed. If you're telling the truth, things may look up for you. If you're not… well, then things will be looking up for Leon," she said, nodding to Tim.

Tim helped the man up and led him off to their makeshift lockup while Leon rolled his eyes and headed to the bunkhouse. When they were gone, Ellie let out a long breath and joined Sally on the tailgate.

"Well, that wasn't what I was expecting," Ellie said.

Sally nodded. "Me either. It honestly never occurred to me that he might not be a bad guy… I mean…"

"Don't worry, Sal, I know exactly what you mean," Ellie said.

"Are we going to kill him? Just for being one of them," Sally asked hesitantly.

"Don't know, kid. That's the hard part, isn't it? He tells a good story, and maybe it's true. But how can we trust him? We're responsible for everyone here. They trust us to make good decisions that will keep them safe. It comes down again to the one versus the many," Ellie said.

Sally sat there thinking about it all. There still had to be good people out there, right? And how would they know without giving a person a chance?


	19. Chapter 19 No Simple Highway

Scott and Alex pushed on for a third consecutive hour of difficult travel through the brush. They had decided to stay parallel to the highway, but far enough from it that they couldn't be seen or heard. They had encountered a small herd of the dead on their way out of town while they were forced to travel near the road and they figured it would be harder travel but easier to evade the dead. They traveled as fast as the terrain allowed, pausing only briefly for water breaks. They were making pretty good time, all things considered.

Alex was taking her turn in front, leading them through what she hoped was the path of least resistance. She had picked up a machete at the pawn shop and had made good use of it so far, blazing a path for them through blackberry bushes and undergrowth. They climbed through another barbed wire fence and skirted another farm house. It was tempting to check some of these places - they didn't look like they'd been touched at all. But time was against them and they had to move fast. It made Alex a little nervous to pass so many houses without clearing them and knowing for sure that there weren't scores of the dead waiting for them on the return trip, but they didn't have a choice. She just hoped it was this calm on their return.

By hour five, it had become apparent that what would have taken them ten hours to walk in the old days could take them closer to a day to achieve. They were both exhausted and Alex called for a rest. She picked a shady spot near the small creek they'd been following and they sat side by side on a large slab of granite, silently sharing a couple of the MRE's from the pawn shop. The water was soothing and birds were happily singing overhead. It was like there wasn't anything wrong with the world.

It wasn't long before they were back on the move, this time Scott in the lead. A few minutes of travel found them in front of an electric fence. At least, it used to be electrified. Now it was just wires. Scott grabbed the wire in order to widen the gap for Alex to step through and was instantly rewarded with a strong shock. He tried to release the wire but couldn't control his hand. Alex, seeing what was happening, dove at Scott, pushing him away from the fence. The smell of burned flesh filled the air.

"What the hell? It's live," she whispered frantically as they got to their feet and retreated from the crossed the creek and paused on the other side, in a thick grove of live oak trees.

"It's definitely live," Scott said, holding up his hand. There was an ugly red line of burned skin where he grasped the wire. "That was enough juice to stop a steer, might have even killed me if you hadn't knocked me free. I don't know how they're getting their power, but that probably caused a noticeable fluctuation in their power supply, dimmed lights and the like. If it was us, we'd know to go check and clear the line when that happened, so I'm assuming someone will be coming to check the perimeter soon. The question is, do we stay and wait or do we bug out and try to get ahead of them, in case they come looking for us," he asked.

Alex pulled some gauze from her pack and did her best to clean the burn before wrapping it. "I'd feel better about things if I knew what or who we were dealing with. We're flying blind as it is… it'd be nice to know what we're dealing with," Alex said.

"We need to find a better place than here to wait it out. If I remember right, there's a house across the road that used to have a clear line of sight to the ranch house…but that was years ago. Could be trees in the way now. Better than waiting here, though," Scott said.

It took about thirty minutes for them to reach the house Scott had been thinking of and clear the area of the dead. There were six needing disposal in the house, but once they were taken care of Scott and Alex had a few minutes to breath. Scott was right, there was a perfect line of sight to the main house across the road. Alex planted herself at the window and began scanning the area with the binoculars, looking for signs of life. Scott took to searching the house for first aid supplies to treat his hand.

After only a few minutes of watching, Alex saw a slender figure slipping amongst the trees near the fence line. As she watched, two more figures appeared in the same vicinity. Alex couldn't be certain, but she strongly suspected the figures were women. Too skinny to be men, too tall to be children. Alex followed them as they moved; they were confident, but their movements didn't register as soldiers, more like athletes. Alex watched until they were out of sight, still following the fence line. Scott returned to the room, needing her help with the bandage.

"I just watched three figures checking on the fence. Looked pretty confident in their movements but not like soldiers. Maybe female athletes of some sort. From the way they moved it looks like this sort of thing happens pretty often, probably just animals though. They didn't seem too concerned about their surroundings, which means they either have someone watching them or they don't know any better, and they've survived a long time to not know any better," Alex added as she finished wrapping Scott's hand.

"Yeah, I agree," Scott said. "I say we wait til they head in and then take off out the back. We don't need any trouble or distractions. On the way back we'll give this place a wide berth."

Alex agreed. They took sips from their water while Alex kept an eye on the group. When it was all clear, they waited another twenty minutes before slipping out the back. After taking a good look around, Scott quickly led them straight back into the tree line, under cover of the house. Once they were safely in the trees, Scott turned them back to the south and they continued on their way.

§

Scott and Alex darted from the treeline to the old barn, having spent thirty minutes observing from the relative safety of the trees. When they were as sure as they could be that there wasn't anyone living around, they decided to check it out since they needed a place to rest for a bit. They'd been running pretty hard for the last four hours and as best as they could tell it would take them at least another two or three hours to get to Auburn. They'd run into a number of dead that had to be killed and it had slowed their progress significantly. Once they made sure the barn was clear, they planted themselves in the hay loft with a good view.

Alex set out some food and they dug in, ravenous from hours of running. They'd had a couple of close calls out there, but they were slowly getting closer. At this rate they probably wouldn't make it back to the Lazy H anytime before dark the following day, but as long as they had the parts to get the power back on Alex didn't care how long it took. She was still trying to work it all out in her head, how she had ended up running away and out on her own. What if she had made a different choice and gone a different direction? The whole group would have been killed… would that have been Alex's fault? She should have been there in the first place, with them on the run… maybe things would have gone better if she'd been in on the plan from the beginning. What the hell was wrong with her?

Scott could tell that Alex was lost in her head, probably blaming herself for Jake getting shot. He didn't want to let her get lost in there, but he also didn't want to say anything that might push her away. Yeah, she agreed to come with him on the run, but that didn't mean they had really made much headway on their relationship. He had to try something though.

"Penny for your thoughts," Scott said, asking her a question that he'd asked dozens of times during her youth. He hoped it would spark a positive memory and not upset her.

Alex was quiet for a moment, and Scott started to think she wasn't going to answer him, but she eventually took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. "I was just trying to figure out how I ended up here… I should have been out on that run with you guys… but if I had, maybe we'd all be dead instead of just Jake…" her voice cracked on Jake's name and she couldn't help the sobs that followed. Scott scooted over to her and pulled Alex in for a hug. She buried her head in his shoulder and let the tears flow.

Scott rubbed her back in soothing circles while he talked softly to her. "Now, Jake's not dead. He was in bad shape, but he's strong, our doctors are excellent and we've got the best medical treatment available these days. You can't think like that. You were where you were meant to be… it all worked out for the best - you saved our asses from getting killed and you're coming back home where you belong," he said, hoping it would reassure her. Alex just kept sobbing.

After a few minutes, Alex's crying slowed to a quiet whimper and she moved to put a little space between her and Scott. "Thanks," she said, wiping her dirty, tear-streaked face.

"No problem," Scott replied. "Here," he said, handing her a half eaten beef teriyaki MRE. Alex used her fingers to scoop the food into her mouth, licking her fingers loudly. Scott couldn't help but smirk.

"What," Alex asked him when she looked up and saw his face.

"Nothing. It's just good to see you eat. I still worry about you… can't help it," he replied.

Alex wasn't sure how to respond, so she didn't say anything. Scott went back to eating his MRE and watching outside.

"How long should we hang out here," Alex asked when she had finished eating. "It's at least another couple hours, longer if we have the luck we've been having."

"I figured we should rest here for no more than an hour. We're gonna have our hands full when we get to town and we're gonna need all the energy we can muster. Why don't you see if you can catch a quick nap? I'll wake you in a bit and we can switch. Sound good," he asked.

Alex didn't think she was tired, but Scott was right, they were going to be pushing themselves even harder than they already had that day and she was going to need what little rest she could get. Instead of arguing, Alex nodded her assent and lay down in the hay. She was asleep in moments.

§

Sally spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon helping around the kitchen. While they were less concerned with impending attack as time slowly ticked by, Ellie and Tim still thought it was a good idea to make sure they had supplies in case the non-fighters had to flee the ranch. Sally helped them distributed canned goods and other supplies evenly amongst the packs they'd gathered. When that job was complete, Sally was off looking for more things she could help with. Anything to keep her from thinking too much.

After lunch she caught a ride with Doc, helping him bring food to those that were helping or waiting at the clinic. When that was finished, Sally took a seat out on the back patio, unsure of what she should do next; she needed to do something. She should be preparing for attack, or helping to protect those that would have to flee from the Lazy H, but she was incapable of doing those things. Her leg was sore as hell and it was an unwanted reminder of how much Sally needed other people to survive right now. She wouldn't make it out there all alone, even with all the training she'd gotten. She was running over the last twenty four hours in her head when she heard the sliding glass door open, distracting her. She looked up to see Nurse Cindy approaching.

"Hey, kiddo," she said in her usual bubbly manner.

"Hi," Sally grunted.

"I found something when I was stripping the sheets off the bed Alex used," Cindy said, pulling something from behind her back. Sally immediately recognized her throwing knife holster. Cindy held it out to her and Sally carefully took it.

"Where did you find them," she asked with awe in her voice.

"They were in the crack along the side of the bed. Zach mentioned that they'd been misplaced, that's how I knew they were yours. I know you've been struggling with the limitations of your injuries. I know you can't throw them yet, but I thought they might make you feel a little better," Cindy added with a smile.

"Thank you, Cindy," Sally said. "I'm sorry for being such a brat since I've been here."

"Thank you, Sally," Cindy said, "but I understand. I know this is hard for you and that you have lost a lot. I can't say that things will get better, but I know _you_ will get better and you will heal. I better get back inside and check on things. You let me know if you need anything."

"I will," Sally replied. "Hey, Cindy," Sally asked, causing Cindy to pause before opening the glass slider. "Is Jake going to be okay?"

Cindy returned to Sally's side and placed her hand on the girl's shoulder. "I don't know, sweetie. He lost a lot of blood before they got him back here, so he's pretty weak. Dr. Benson removed one of the bullets but he had to stop operating because Jake's vitals were too low. He's hoping that letting him rest for a bit will be enough so he can get in there and remove the fragments of the other bullet," she explained.

"Fragments? It broke into pieces," Sally asked.

"That's what Dr. Benson said when he looked at the x-ray. Said it looks like there's four, maybe five pieces. Benson got in there and cauterized the worst bleeders that he could get to easily, but he couldn't remove all the fragments as Jake's vital's dropped and the Dr. really thought the best thing was to close him up and give his body a chance to rest. He wants to try to wait until Scott and Alex get back with the part to get the power back on, said something about Jake having a better chance at survival with real power and not the jenny, in case something goes wrong," Cindy explained.

Sally nodded her head. "Can Jake wait that long? They might not get back until tomorrow," Sally said.

"You'll have to ask the Dr. about that, I don't know," Cindy replied.

"Ok. Do you need any help with anything around here? I feel pretty useless and can't do much, but I'd like to help," Sally said.

Cindy smiled. "Sure thing, kiddo. I'm sure we can find something for you to do," she said as she led the way inside.

Sally smiled and was happy for the distraction. She hoped everything was going smoothly for Alex and Scott out there and that they would be back in time for Jake's surgery. She followed Cindy inside and listened carefully as Cindy explained the different types of supplies that needed to be refilled in the procedure room. When Cindy was sure she didn't have any questions, she left Sally to it.

Sally was almost finished stocking the supplies when there was a soft knock at the door. She turned around to see Zach standing in the doorway.

"Hey you," Sally chirped. "You look exhausted. Everything okay out there," Sally asked as she put the last few items on the procedure trays.

Zach stepped into the room and sank down into the chair near the bed. "Things are calm out there," he replied. "Kinda eerie to be honest. How are you feeling," he asked.

"Sore. Been up doing whatever they'll let me since this morning. Probably pushing myself too hard but everyone else is running around protecting this place… I'm just trying to make myself useful," she said.

"I'm not on duty until the morning. Ellie filled me in on the run… I still gotta get cleaned up but I thought I'd see if you wanted to tag along with me. Ellie asked me to help them with something, said you could help out too if you want," Zach said.

"Sounds better than sitting around here waiting for news," Sally said. "Let's go."

§

After waking Alex, Scott took a short nap before they were back on the move. They found themselves on a quiet dirt road that led in the general direction they needed to go and after running hard for hours through the brush, both were loath to lose the easy traveling. There was a small farmhouse up ahead and they needed to leave the road to travel around it unseen, so they begrudgingly waded back into the tree line.

They hadn't even walked for two minutes when a child's scream pierced the air. Without hesitating, Alex and Scott both took off running towards the sound, weapons at the ready. When they reached the tree line, they paused for a moment to locate the source of the scream. There was a commotion coming from behind the barn, about fifty yards from the trees. They couldn't see what it was, but they silently decided they were going in anyway and Scott signed his plan to Alex. She gave a quick nod before they busted out of the trees and headed in separate directions for the barn, each taking a side.

As Alex approached the corner she could hear the sounds of a struggle, with grunting and whimpering in the background. She took a deep breath and peeked around the corner. She was not prepared for the sight that met her. Without hesitating another moment, Alex charged around the corner, taking out three dead ones that were trying to reach a young girl perched on top of an old car. Scott came around the other corner and took out the two on his side.

When the last body hit the ground the girl started screaming at them. "What have you done? Why did you kill them? They weren't doing anything to you," she accused.

Alex was surprised by her anger. "No, but it looked like they were going to make a meal out of you," she said pointedly. "How about saying thank you for saving your life?"

"Why would I thank you for killing my family? You're murderers," she yelled. Alex was about to respond when she heard footsteps approaching. Scott turned to aim his gun at the approaching sounds while Alex kept her gun trained on the girl. Two armed young men ran up with puzzled looks on their faces.

Scott took control of the scene. "Alright, you two just hold up right there," he said calmly. "We were in the area and we heard the screams so we came to help. We aren't looking for any trouble."

The taller of the two boys lowered his gun and told his friend to lower his too. "Cissy, what are you doin' out here," he asked the girl.

"I just came to visit momma and daddy," the girl said innocently.

The boy clearly wasn't buying it though. "How'd they get out of the barn if you were just visitin'," he inquired.

The girl's cheeks flushed and she shifted back and forth on her feet. "They were like that when I got here," she answered. It was clear to everyone she was lying. Alex lowered her gun from the girl and took a few steps closer to Scott.

The taller boy quickly stepped over to the car and grabbed the girl's arm, yanking her down from the roof of the car. He didn't let her drop to the ground, instead catching her at the last minute and keeping her from hitting the ground. He forcibly stood her on her own two feet and gripped her by the shoulders, making her face him.

"I told you a million times, they'll kill ya. Mom and Dad are gone. You're a stupid girl and you're going to get yourself killed. Why can't you ever just do what you're told," he said, exasperatedly. The kid ran his hands through his hair and exhaled loudly before turning to Scott and Alex.

"Thank you for saving my little sister. She's a pain in the ass, but I promised my parents I'd take care of her… she makes it a bit difficult sometimes," he said with a small smile. "My name's Andrew, this is my brother Jesse," he said, holding out his hand to shake.

"Nice to meet you, Andrew," Scott replied. "I'm Scott and this is my daughter Alex," he said. They all took turns shaking hands, except for Sissy who just glared at them through her disheveled hair.

"You look familiar," Scott said to Andrew. "What's your last name?"

"Reeves, Andrew Reeves, sir," the kid replied.

"Your father was John Reeves," Scott asked.

"Yes. How did you know," Andrew asked, looking from Scott to the dead lying near the car.

"He was the one that helped me setup my solar power grid," Scott said. "That's actually what brings us to town. I thought you guys moved to Foresthill after he sold the shop," Scott asked.

"We did. This is my aunt Frannie's place. We were in town shopping when everything went down. Dad brought us here because it was close and he wasn't going to leave her here alone," Andrew explained. "It's getting dark. We should head back to the house. You guys have to join us for dinner. It's not much, but it's the least we can do for saving our sister."

"We really need to get into town to the shop, Andrew. Our power system is out and we need to get it back up and running. We've got injured that need medical treatment that requires power. We'll swing back by on our way back," Scott replied.

"You guys can't just run into town. The Soldiers are there, guarding it. They won't let anyone come in and steal their supplies. You won't make it back," Andrew warned. "We can help you though. We can create a distraction and help you get in and out real quick. Night time is probably best anyway, they seem a bit afraid of the dark. Come back to the house with us and we can work out a plan," Andrew insisted.

"Who's _we_ ," Alex asked.

"There's nine of us all together; us three, my four cousins and two neighbors. The neighbor kids are too young to help out, but the rest of us have been into town for runs before. We can help you do this, I'm sure of it," he replied.

"Wait, how old are you and your cousins," Alex asked.

"I'm seventeen, Jesse's sixteen, Sissy's seven. The cousins range from thirteen to sixteen and the neighbors are eight and ten," he replied.

"Wait, it's just you guys, no adults," Alex asked, slightly shocked.

"Just been us for months… the adults went out on a run and ran into trouble. Our parents

were the only ones that made it back but dad got shot and mom got bit. They made us lock them in the barn and promise that we wouldn't let them out… I know I should have killed them after they turned but I just couldn't bring myself to do it," Andrew said.

Scott looked at the kids and couldn't help but feel bad about the situation they found themselves in. "Alright, let's go to the house and come up with a plan. The quicker we get in there the quicker we can get out and head home," Scott said. "And you kids are coming back with us. We've got lots of good people and a good perimeter, lots of supplies."

"Thanks, but I'll have to talk to the others about it first. We have to agree since it affects all of us. Strangers have hurt us before," Andrew replied.

"Why are you helpin' us then," Alex asked, suspiciously.

"Because it's the right thing to do. You saved my sister, I save you from the Soldiers. Then we're even and you can go home," Andrew explained.

Alex started to respond but Scott cut her off. "That's a place to start, and we'll take it," he said. "Let's get started on that plan, shall we?"

Andrew nodded and Jesse turned and led the way to the house. When they arrived, a lone teen greeted them from the porch with his shotgun aimed at the newcomers.

"It's okay, Chris, they're okay. They put down Mom and Dad when Sissy let them out of the barn and they went after her," Andrew explained to the youth. The young man lowered his gun but kept a wary eye on Alex.

They climbed up the porch and entered the house, Chris remaining on guard outside. The others were waiting just inside the door and Andrew made the introductions, explaining again what had happened at the barn.

"We're going to help them get into town by creating a diversion," Andrew told them. Heads of the older kids nodded in agreement.

"Can we finally burn the school down," the lanky straw haired boy named Hunter asked with a grin. A fit of laughter rolled around the group.

"Sorry, Hunt, not this time. School's a little too close to their objective - my dad's old store," Andrew told his cousin as he gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "I was actually thinking about the feed store right off the old highway. It'll take the Soldiers all the way to the southwest of town, the opposite direction of where we need to get and how we'll get back home," Andrew explained as they all moved to the den. The large oak desk was covered with a large map of the town, various markings designating places they've checked out or places they know are no good. Andrew pointed to the feed store.

"This is the feed store. And this," he said, jabbing his finger at a point a couple of inches away, "is the main camp of the Soldiers. It should take them at least five to seven minutes to reach the building, once they see the flames, which should give you two a few more minutes to make your escape."

"Wait," Scott interrupted,"I can't let you guys do this. It's too dangerous."

"Yeah, I can set the place on fire," Alex offered.

Andrew and Hunter both shook their heads. "You two know what you're looking for, we

know the lay of the land," Hunter said. "Besides, you don't know what these guys are capable of. We do," Hunter said darkly. "You just worry about getting your parts, we will handle the Soldiers."

"Hunter's right. This is a good plan. Just follow our lead and we'll get you guys in and out and back on the road in no time," Andrew said.

Scott and Alex reluctantly agreed, which allowed them to get down to the details. Scott felt that Andrew was right, it was a good plan and they should be back heading back home by first light in the morning. They hammered out the details, Scott asking a few questions which resulted in some tweaks to the plan and then they ate a quick meal of lamb stew which had been prepared by the twins, Jackson and Jilly.

When they were all seated around the table, Andrew raised the question of leaving with Scott and Alex after the run. "I told my parents that I'd look after all of you, and I think I've done a pretty good job. But honestly, I wouldn't mind a change of scenery. But it's up to all of us. I won't make the decision for us," he finished.

There was some discussion around the table before Hunter started asking questions: "How many people you got there? Do you have fences? How do you feed everyone? What-." Hunter's interrogation was interrupted by Andrew.

"Hang on a second, Hunt. They can't answer your questions if you don't let them talk," he reminded.

"We've got about one hundred people there, men, women and children of all ages. Yes, we have fences and we have enough people to have a rotating duty roster for the perimeter. We have gardens and orchards, cattle, pigs, goats and chickens for slaughtering, and a team of people that help turn all of that into meals three times a day. We've collected supplies from the neighboring ranches, collected gas and oil in drums to run our vehicles, we've got guns and ammo, running water and, when we get back with the replacement part, electricity. We've even got a clinic and a doctor," Scott added.

Hunter looked like he had more questions, but Andrew spoke first. "I know you've got questions and I know we haven't had many good experiences with strangers. But I think we should trust them. We don't have to make a decision until we get back, but I think we should consider it. How much longer do you think we can last, just the nine of us," he asked.

"I don't need to think about it," Jesse piped up. "I want to go."

"Us too," Jackson answered for himself and his sister Jilly.

"Alright," Andrew replied. "Anyone _not_ want to go," he asked. A couple of the kids looked uneasy but when it came time to answer, they all shook their heads no. "Alright, it looks like we'll be joining you," he said to Scott. "In that case, Jilly you're going to stay here and pack while keeping an eye on the little ones. Lindsey, you help her. No more than one pack each and make sure the little one's packs aren't too heavy. When we get back we can do a quick run through and then we can be on our way."

Scott and Alex nodded in agreement and then the group got down to the final planning of the run. They wolfed down their food while they talked about the plan, planning contingencies and alternate escape routes. When they were satisfied with the plan, everyone checked their gear before they set off into the night.


	20. Chapter 20 Set the Night on Fire

Though the farmhouse was only ten miles from town - as the crow flies - it took the group almost 5 hours to make it to the outskirts. There was no moon, which was both a blessing and a curse, and it made travel through the brush very difficult, especially for those with shorter legs. But they trudged on, slowly gaining ground. There were a number of dead that had to be dealt with which slowed them considerably, but the real time consumer was simply the terrain. It would have been much easier to travel by the road and use the bridges to traverse the two canyons that were between them and their goal, but Andrew was adamant that the Soldiers were watching the bridges. Even if they weren't, anyone else around would have the advantage in ambushing them as they crossed. Everyone agreed that it was simply too risky, though it would add hours to their trip by going around.

After about two hours of travel the group paused near the intersection of two property fences. Here they would be splitting up, Hunter and Chris circling around to the southwest of town and the rest of the group heading southeast towards the store. Hunter figured it would take him and Chris about an hour longer to reach the feed store than it would take the others to reach the solar store, so once the group was in place near the solar store they were to wait until they saw the fire to go in. They each gave some last minute reminders to the other group before setting off in separate directions and promising to meet back at this spot.

Hunter and Chris would head back here as soon as they were finished setting the fire, being careful to avoid the Soldiers. Then they would wait for the other group to meet them here. If either group was not at that spot by 5 a.m. the other would assume they didn't make it and head back to the farm and the kids. They didn't think they would have to implement the plan, but it was good to have in place just in case.

Scott and Alex's group was making pretty good time. After leaving the meeting spot the ground evened out as they continued their way southeast. Scott knew there was just one more canyon between them and town and this one had a much larger river at the bottom of it than the creeks they'd already crossed. The spring had brought plenty of rain and Scott was worried about the crossing. But they didn't have any other option than to ford the river.

They came upon a small group of the dead as they neared the canyon and everyone held their positions as they waited for the proper moment to start their attack. Scott was impressed with how well these kids fought, they were patient and quiet, and none of them had shown any sense of fear or hesitation in any of the attacks they'd handled so far that night.

Just then, the attack began, with each person handling their own section and quickly taking down the dead. After dropping seven bodies, they paused to regroup, listening for any more groans of the dead. There was a rustling in the brush just behind Jackson, and the group turned to face the next wave, putting the canyon behind them. In a few moments, the dead stumbled into the small clearing, but there were more of them than anyone had expected. After four of them stumbled free, with at least four more behind them, Scott called everyone into action.

"Everyone head down into the canyon," he called as Alex came to stand next to him. They began methodically taking them out, one by one, while the others made a break for it. The bodies were piling up, causing those still pressing forward to stumble. This gave them the small break they needed to follow after the rest of the group, down into the steep canyon.

They stumbled through the brush and trees, trying not to lose their footing, as that would likely mean rolling down to the very bottom, probably resulting in severe injuries. As Scott was focusing on keeping his feet under him and listening for the sounds of the dead behind them, a muffled cry rang out from below them. They quickly caught up with the others and discovered that Jackson had gotten his foot caught in a root and twisted his ankle pretty badly. Scott and Alex skidded to a stop as Andrew and Jesse helped the young man to his feet.

"Can you put any weight on it," Andrew asked him.

Jackson carefully put his weight on the injured foot and let out a sharp hiss before quickly pulling his foot off the ground. "Not really. Hurts pretty bad, Drew," Jackson lamented. "I'm just going to slow you down. Leave me here," he said.

Scott shook his head. "No way. Too many dead lurking around here, it's not safe. We'll push on to the other side of the river and see if we can find a better spot for you to wait it out. Come on, hop up," Scott said to the boy as he squatted down so Jackson could hop on his back for a piggyback.

Sensing his hesitation, Scott added, "It's easier than hobbling down the rest of the slope, son. I promise I won't drop you." With Andrew and Jesse's encouragement Jackson carefully clambered up on Scott's back and they were on the move again and none too soon. There was a thud, scuffle and the sound of something heavy sliding down the slope towards them. The dead were coming, following blindly down the slope. They needed to get across the river now.

They could hear the water now and the ground was evening out. Scott could occasionally see the reflection of the starlight on the water through the branches. The water was definitely higher than he'd expected.

At the river's edge Scott set Jackson down and he and Alex began exploring the dark shore, looking for the easiest place to cross. After a few false starts, Scott was pleased with a spot slightly downstream. The water was noisier here, shallow water running quickly over small rocks not deep water running quickly over large boulders. It was the best shot they had in the dark.

Alex went first, carefully feeling her way across and Scott followed with Jackson on his back. Jesse and Andrew brought up the rear. The water was chilly but luck was on their side and the water level never went above their thighs. Scott managed to make it across without slipping and he carefully deposited Jackson on the ground on the rocky shore while they waited for the others to make it out.

As soon as she made it to the shore Alex slipped into the darkness looking for a safe place for Jackson to await their return. Alex wasn't really a big fan of just leaving the kid, but they couldn't take him with. If he could keep still and not make any noise he should be fine. Alex was looking for a good tree or cave to settle him into.

It didn't take her long to find the perfect spot and she hurried back to the group so they could follow her to the spot. There was a large pile of granite rocks that leaned together to make a cave. The entrance was very narrow and would only allow one person at a time to enter, so even if the dead tried to get in, all Jackson had to do was kill a couple of them in the entrance and others wouldn't be able to get in.

At the back of the cave a tree grew straight up through the opening where the rocks leaned together, right up into the canopy. If the main entrance became compromised, Jackson could climb up the tree and sneak out that way. It was the best they would be able to do with the time they had. Alex hoped it would be enough.

They got Jackson settled in and disguised the entrance the best they could and then set off on the final leg of their journey. The travel was considerably easier on this side of the river. By the time they made it out of the canyon and to their waiting spot it was just past midnight. From their vantage point they could see all of the town laid out before them, all darkness and shadows. It was eerie. Even this far into the end of the world, with all the horrors they'd seen, there were still things that gave Alex the chills. This was one of them.

Their wait was longer than expected and the first spark of the fire arrived just when their little group was starting to lose hope. But Alex and Andrew kept their eyes focused on the southwest side of town and each let out an excited whisper when the spark caught their eyes. They watched for another moment, hoping to see some sign of the soldiers moving towards their diversion and they were rewarded when they saw headlights suddenly appear about a mile from the fire. Once they saw the plan was working, the group took off running for the solar shop.

§

It was easy to get into the building, as the glass of the front windows had been broken out and the doors were left wide open. Scott hoped the items they needed were still inside. Once inside they spread out and cleared the store, only finding two dead ones inside. Scott and Alex quickly got down to business trying to locate the parts they needed. It was a few minutes before Scott called out for Alex to meet him.

"All this stuff here, on the bottom shelf. This is what we need," he said as he began stuffing parts in his bag.

"We need all of it," she asked as she opened her bag and began shoving stuff in.

"This is the only stuff that we can't make ourselves or rig from something else," Scott explained. "If it breaks again, we'll have the part on hand."

They filled everyone's packs with as much as they could carry and then headed back the way they came. When they reached the top of the hill where they had waited for the fire to start they could see that the blaze had quickly spread to the surrounding buildings. With no one trying to stop the fire, it would keep going until it ran out of fuel to burn, which would probably take a while in that section of town. There were a number of industrial shops out that way and probably lots of flammable chemicals stored in them. Just as Scott had that thought an explosion rocked the night.

"Holy shit," Alex whispered. "That's going to draw some attention. I hope the boys got far away from there before that blew."

"Me too," Scott replied.

"They did," Andrew said. "If I had to bet on it, I'd say Hunter planned it that way. He's a bit of a fire bug, in case you couldn't tell," he explained. "Come on, let's go get Jackson."

Jackson was resting comfortably, right where they'd left him. It had taken them a couple of hours to get back to him, but he'd been lucky and none of the dead had made it across the river, though not for lack of trying. Before they attempted to re-cross the river, Alex shone her flashlight across to the other side and was disappointed to see several dead as they stepped down into the water from the bank before losing their footing and slowly getting washed down the river. They couldn't cross in the same place, if there were dead ones under the water someone could get bit during the crossing. They were going to have to cross upstream a little ways to be safe.

After helping Jackson to his feet, Scott and Andrew helped get him upstream while Alex went to look for a spot to cross. Not finding a likely spot below the bridge, Alex cautiously approached the bridge, listening intently for any sound indicating they were not the only humans around. She carefully crossed under the bridge and continued to range upstream looking for the easiest place for them to cross. After wading out into the water a short distance, Alex was confident she'd found a spot that would work for them so she waded back to the shore and waited for the others.

"How did you get so good at everything," Jesse asked her when he reached her location. He was a few paces ahead of the others and they had a moment to themselves. "Seems like there isn't anything you can't do."

"Guess I'm just lucky," Alex said. "Was raised by people that knew how to survive off the land and I paid attention… Since everything went to shit we've been working pretty hard to make a community… I've done my share of killing… seen alotta shit… made some bad choices. I don't think it's that I'm so good at everything as much as everyone else had to learn after the dead started walking while I already knew how to hunt and kill. I wasn't as squeamish about it as some people I've seen. Besides, you kids seem pretty capable yourselves," Alex said.

"We've had some pretty close calls in the last couple months, to be honest. My parents were big into the outdoors and they took all us kids out camping every summer. Taught us to shoot, some basic fighting skills, as it turns out it was just enough for us to get by," Jesse said.

"This the spot," Scott asked Alex as the rest of the group finally joined them.

"Best spot I've found so far. Might be a little deeper than the other spot, but I didn't think we wanted to go too far upstream," Alex said.

They took a moment to switch packs around so that Scott could piggyback Jackson across the river. Alex took the lead, with Scott and Jackson right behind her. The water was slower here and as they got closer to the middle of the river Alex sunk below the water up to her groin, taking her breath away for a moment. Luckily, that was as deep as it got and after that it started getting shallower. Once they were back on the other shore they took a moment to recover before setting a hard pace for the meeting spot. The night had gone well and so far they were making good time, but there was no telling what obstacles might pop up for them in the next couple hours.

When they finally came to a stop for their first rest, the sky was just beginning to lighten with the first grey of dawn. Everyone took a much needed rest, taking time to stretch and rehydrate. Scott was calling on them to move out before long and they were back at it.

By the time they reached the meeting spot, the grey sky was starting to turn the faintest pink and they could see that the others were not there yet. They got Jackson settled on the ground with his leg elevated and then Scott and Alex passed out MRE's to everyone. The group quickly dug in and ate quietly, listening to the early bird songs and waiting for the others to arrive.

Alex sat a little off from the group. As soon as she finished eating she pulled out a box of ammo and began filling the empty clips she'd used on the way there, rhythmically inserting bullets into the clip. When the clips were full, she pulled out a whetstone and began sharpening her machete. Andrew came over and sat next to her on the boulder.

"So Jesse says you guys have been in a community since the beginning of all this," he said, clearly trying to start a conversation with her.

"I guess," Alex replied. "Was just me an' Jake at first, then we started bringin' other people in from town. Needed help runnin' the ranch - gardens, chickens, hogs - these things don't take care of themselves," she said. "We needed help keeping the place safe, figured we were safer with a group than on our own. We had lots of food and places to stay, we just needed people to help us keep it that way," she explained.

"Who's Jake," Andrew asked, "Your brother?"

Alex stifled a laugh. "No, Jake's …," Alex paused, suddenly very aware that she didn't even know if Jake was still alive and the smile slid from her face. "Jake's…" she tried to finish, but the rest of the sentence was stuck in her throat.

"Jake is Alex's husband," Scott offered after hearing the difficulty Alex was having answering the question. "There was a fight, Jake was shot, Alex and I took off to come find the parts to get the power back on before we even knew how bad off he really was. He was in bad shape, but his best chance for survival is getting the power back on so they can operate."

"Husband," Andrew asked in disbelief. "You don't look old enough to be married," he said with shock in his voice.

"Killing people has a way of aging you," Alex said darkly.

"Whoa, I didn't mean anything," Andrew said, raising his hands indicating innocence. "I just meant that you look like you're my age, and the thought never even crossed my mind, that's all. So your man got shot and you left on the run to get what he needs to save his life? That's quite the story to tell your grandkids... better than the "walked to school in the snow, uphill both ways" story my grandparents used to tell me," he said with a short laugh.

Alex cringed at the thought. Grandkids meant kids… and she and Jake were never going to have kids. That was insane in this world. Besides, Jake was probably dead. Luckily for everyone, Jesse interrupted them.

"Look! Here come Hunt and Chris," he called to the group.

Alex looked up to see the two boys coming through the trees, looking slightly worse than they did when they parted hours ago. Within a few minutes they were hugging their kin and being handed MRE's by Scott.

"You guys have any trouble getting back here," Scott asked them.

Hunter nodded his head. "Had to make an unexpected detour… that explosion riled up the dead for miles around. Chris and I had to kill a couple and hide under the bodies for about an hour waiting for the herd to thin. One thing's for sure, the Soldiers are going to have their hands full. Caught a glimpse of town just after dawn, could actually see the dark shadows of the dead pouring into town. It's probably a good thing we're heading out with you guys after all," Hunter said with a grin.

"Well, we're not outta the woods yet," Alex reminded them, nodding her head in the direction they were supposed to be heading. "Looks like there's a few stragglers that are late to the party," she said as she shouldered her pack. "Should we fight our way through or see if we can go around," she asked Scott.

"If there aren't too many, we should kill them and spend a few more minutes here. I have an idea," he said.

The group dropped their packs and quickly dispatched the dozen or so dead that wandered their way. Only when the killing was done would Scott explain his plan.

"Me and Alex have been running for the better part of a day and you guys have been hard pressed since last night. We're not at our best and we've got an injured person, plus forty pounds of gear each. We're gonna be slow. And we stirred up the hornet's nest tonight. The dead are going to be swarming all over. What Hunter said gave me an idea that might help us out," Scott cautiously began. "I think we should cut the bodies open and cover ourselves in the guts. The smell should help disguise us from the dead. We may even be able to walk right through them, if we're careful," he added, hoping it wouldn't be too hard a sell. They needed any advantage they could get, no matter how small.

"We've never tried to do that before," Hunter said. "Me an' Chris have used the bodies to hide under plenty of times, but never thought to cover ourselves in that shit and try to walk around… seems like it could work," he said after a little consideration.

"It does," Alex said quietly. Everyone turned to look at her.

"How do you know," Scott asked her.

"Just before you came back… the run Sally and I were on. We found the stuff someone was using to herd thousands of the dead... and then used it against them," she said evenly. "It does work. We just really got to cover ourselves in it. Sally and I hung intestines around our necks too," she added.

Under Alex's direction they cut open the bodies and began covering themselves in the rotten guts. The smell was horrific but the end result was satisfying. They smelled and looked like the dead, and hopefully that would be enough to get them home without anymore delays.

§

Jilly had been up most of the night packing and repacking as much as she could, unsure of just what was most important for them to bring. The newcomers had said they had lots of people at the camp and plenty of food and stuff for everyone, so Jilly focused on a few things for each person that were personally important and then filled the rest of the packs with practical items, food, weapons and the like. With so little direction, she really hoped she was doing this right.

After getting a couple hours of sleep near dawn, Jilly was back up with the sun, making final preparations for their departure. Andrew said they'd be back late morning or early afternoon and she wanted to have everything ready by then. When the rest of the girls got up, Jilly had Lindsay and Shiloh start breakfast while Sissy helped her with the packing.

As the morning ticked by, Jilly found herself spending more time looking out the window, hoping to see her family returning. When she finally couldn't pack anymore, she went out and sat on the porch, staring off into the distance, waiting to see some speck of movement. The later it got, the more concerned she became. What if they didn't come back? What if she was the only one left to take care of the kids? How would they survive?

As these thoughts swirled around in her head and threatened to replace all reason, she caught the first glimpse of movement way off in the distance. Jilly grabbed the rifle sitting at her side and took a look through the scope.

"Shit," she exclaimed. "Lindsay, grab the other rifle and get out here," she called while keeping her eye on the scope.

"What is it," Lindsay said as she joined Jilly on the porch.

"We've got company headed this way," Jilly said. Lindsay followed her gaze and looked through the scope of her own rifle.

"I count five of them," Lindsay said. "Should we shoot them?"

"Andrew always says it's better to kill them quietly than to shoot them because the noise could attract more. They might even get distracted before they get here. Let's just watch them and keep quiet for now," Jilly said.

The older girls kept watch through the scopes while the younger girls remained inside. In a short time the dead were approaching the fence and it was time to make a decision. Jilly was confident she could kill them from the porch with the gun, but she wasn't so confident in her ability to stab them as they were caught on the fence. It looked like the smallest one was at least a foot taller than herself and she knew it didn't do any good to stab them anywhere other than in the brain. She was going to have to shoot them. As Jilly lined up her first shot, the lead walker reached out and unlatched the gate. It took a moment for her brain to register that action, but when she did, she lowered the gun and reached out to lower Lindsay's as well.

"What are you doing," Lindsay asked.

"I think that's them," Jilly said as she stepped off the porch and headed for the gate.

"Jilly! Where are you going," Lindsay frantically whispered. "Come back!"

"It's okay," Andrew called, waving to her from the gate. "I know we look a mess, but it's

us. We're all okay."

Lindsay finally put the gun down and went running to join her people at the gate. She stopped short when she saw they were covered in blood and guts.

"Gross. What happened to you guys," she asked, wrinkling her nose at the stench.

"We really riled up the dead in our attack on the town," Hunter explained. "Ended up having to travel through a number of them to get back and we didn't have the strength to fight them all off. Scott and Alex thought this might work. It made them think we were one of them and they didn't give us any trouble."

"Come on, we'll fill you all in as we get cleaned up," Andrew said.

"There's food in the kitchen if you guys are hungry. I've been packing all night, I think I got everything ready," Jilly reported.

"Good job, kiddo. That makes it a lot easier for us. Thanks, Jilly," Andrew said.

They all got cleaned up, taking turns in the bathroom and then taking turns filling their plates in the kitchen. As they gathered around the dining room table to eat, Scott, Andrew and Hunter began talking about the rest of the trip.

"What do you think about grabbing some horses for the return trip," Hunter said. "I know ya'll traveled through the brush to get here, but with the kids on foot we're really going to hold you up and I know you need to get back with those parts," he said.

"Yeah, I was thinking about that on the way back. I know there's some back roads we could take… I doubt it would take us any longer going a little further on horseback than traveling more directly on foot. I think if we can make it back in less than twelve hours I'll consider it a success. Any clue where the closest horses might be," Scott asked.

"I've seen some around on the neighboring farms, but they aren't the greatest. I was thinking of the quarterhorse farm that's a few miles from here. We can definitely pick some up around here for starters," Andrew said.

"Isn't that the place we came across with the live fence," Alex asked. She was sitting next to Scott but hadn't participated in the conversation so far.

Scott nodded. "Yes. We came across that place on our way here," Scott said. "There's definitely people living there. They have enough electricity to power an electric fence and enough people to not be too concerned when they do rounds," Scott explained. "We may have to forgo the horses and just do the best we can on foot."

"You saw people there," Andrew asked. "Did you see what they looked like?"

"No, they were covered head to toe," Alex said. "Couldn't tell for sure, but the way they moved and their body types made me think of female athletes. Like runners or something."

"Or maybe water polo players," Andrew asked. "We knew the family that owned the place. Their daughters, Stephanie, Annie and Kayla were all on the water polo team at our high school. They all played other sports too, but they were all well known for their skills in the water polo pool. I think we should go there," Andrew said. "I think we should at least ask them if they want to come with us. The worst that could happen is they say no."

"No, the worst that could happen is they shoot us before they know we're friendly," Alex said.

"They know me and my family," Andrew replied. "They won't shoot us."

"Okay," Alex said. "You and your family can take the lead and Scott and I will hang back. Just in case."

"Alright. If that's all worked out we should really get going," Scott said. "We've got a lot of ground to cover."

After taking one final walk through the house, Andrew, Jesse and Chris helped the others get their packs on and adjusted before shrugging into their own packs. Hunter had seen a donkey in a pasture on their way back and after shoveling some food in his mouth he ran out to the pasture to harness the donkey for Jackson to ride on so no one had to carry him. He now helped the youngster up on the animal's back and got him settled.

"Alright, then," Scott called when everyone was ready. "Let's get this show on the road."


	21. Chapter 21 Help on the Way

Sally helped Zach prep for the rescue run to the mine, filling clips and water bottles and helping to organize his and other people's packs. Ellie had initially just wanted Zach to help out getting the supplies prepped for others to go on the run, but one of the people she'd selected for the run had sprained his ankle out on patrol that afternoon by stepping into a gopher hole and she needed another person she could trust on the team. It was easier to replace Zach out on the perimeter than to find someone with as much experience out on runs as he had, so Ellie rearranged the schedule and informed Zach and Sally of the change in plans.

Sally had initially been insanely jealous, wanting to go with Zach and help out. Also, all the people that she cared about had not had the greatest luck on runs in the last few days and she was loathe to let Zach out of her sight. At the moment, he was the only person she had left. Who knew what would happen to Alex out there and Jake still wasn't out of the woods.

Once the jealousy subsided, Sally realized she really just wanted to make sure Zach came back, regardless of how the run went. She began to surreptitiously pack her own pack with ammo and water, aware that she wouldn't be able to carry much weight for long but knowing if they got into a jam they would need all the ammo they could get. She stuffed her pack behind a crate for later. Now she just had to figure out how to get on the truck without anyone noticing.

The plan was to take two trucks out to the mine, which was less than ten miles from the Lazy H, and rescue the remaining women at the mine camp. If their prisoners intel was correct, they only had to worry about three old men guarding the camp, and hopefully things would go smoothly. They hoped that when the men realized they were outnumbered they would go quietly. Sally knew it was wishful thinking, but she could hope things would go smoothly.

Sally listened intently as Ellie and Tim laid out the plan for the group that was going on the run. They would be leaving in the morning. Ellie had initially wanted them to go that afternoon, but Tim pointed out that the men guarding the mine would likely have their guards up, expecting attack. If they went in early the next morning they had a better chance of catching them off guard. Or at least that was the prevailing assumption. Sally had to agree with Tim's logic. As much as it would be nice to just get it over with, it would be better to wait if they thought they would have a better chance at success in the morning.

If they were going to leave first thing in the morning, Sally was going to need to figure out a way to be in the area, unnoticed, before everyone started gathering to leave. It was unlikely that she would be able to leave the clinic unnoticed at that hour of the morning, and she would be exhausted by the time she walked all the way to the barn. That wouldn't work, she was going to have to come up with another plan.

When the briefing was finished, Sally hung back and waited for Zach to join her and they walked over to the bunkhouse for dinner. They sat at their own table, the one that the council members usually sat at. Recently, the table had been mostly empty, as the council had dwindled to essentially three members, and at the moment only two of them could sit at the table. It was disheartening, and Sally sat thinking about how small her "apocalypse family" had become.

"What's up, kid," Zach asked, noticing Sally's dejected look. He sat next to her and gently elbowed her in the shoulder.

She exhaled loudly. "It's nothing, really," Sally said. "It's just sad how small our group has become."

Zach found her statement odd since their group was, in fact, growing. They were still bringing people in occasionally and the incoming definitely outnumbered the rate at which they were losing people. But he figured Sally wasn't talking about the group at large. She was talking about her family.

"I know it seems bad right now," Zach said, "but things will be better soon. Jake will get better and Alex will be back. Scott will make sure of it," he said. "It's just been a rough couple of days."

"Days? More like months," Sally said, frustrated, angrily stuffing food into her mouth.

Zach took a couple of bites of food while he thought about how best to respond. "I know it's shit right now. Is there anything that would help cheer you up," he asked.

"Can't do anything anyway," she said, shaking her head. "I _want_ to go hunting, I _want_ to go on the run, I _want_ to fucking help but I can't do anything," she cried. "I just want everything to go back to normal!"

"We all wish things could go back to normal, Sally," Zach said quietly. "We all miss how life used to be."

Sally shook her head. "No, that's not even what I'm talking about. I miss my parents and my friends, but I don't really miss how the world was before. People were mean and petty, everything was busy and bright and fast. And now… well, people are still mean, but there are a lot of nice people too. And it's kinda hard to be petty when you're fighting for your life every day and you have to work for everything you've got. I meant things going back to normal like before Alex and I went on that stupid run. She and Jake were happy and we were all living at the house… things were good. I felt at home. Now it just feels like limbo, like I'm just waiting for everything to fall apart and move on to the next thing. I don't feel like I belong anywhere."

Zach patted her on the shoulder and brought her in for a side hug. "I'm sorry you feel that way, but you do belong here. Even though it feels off right now, you are right where you're supposed to be," he said, scruffing up her hair. "And I'm a little hurt," he added with a slight grin.

Sally looked at him. "Hurt? By what," she asked curiously.

"I consider you to be my family and you will always have a place to belong. We gotta stick together, us orphans," Zach reminded her. "You aren't alone, Sal."

Sally gave Zach a big smile and a hug before settling in to finish her food. "I guess that's better than nothin'," she teased.

After dinner Zach took Sally to the clinic to see Jake. Ellie had told them that he was awake and had asked about her and Sally was eager to see him. She kept telling herself that he was in bad shape so that she wouldn't be surprised when she saw him, but she still couldn't hide her shock when she walked into Jake's room and saw him lying there on the bed. She let out a small gasp when she saw how pale and weak he was. Jake was quick to flash her a smile to she could see that he was okay. Sally came and sat next to the bed, carefully avoiding the many tubes that he was connected to.

"Hey, Sal," Jake slowly breathed out. "You okay," he asked.

Sally couldn't believe he was worried about her. "I'm fine," she deflected. "How are you?"

Jake smirked. "Ta be honest with ya, I've felt better," he whispered. "Seriously, Sal, are ya okay? Who's takin' care of ya," he grunted.

Sally shrugged her shoulders. "Takin' care of myself, for the most part," she said. "Been helpin' out as much as I can an' tryin' to stay out of everyone's way."

"I don't like ya bein' alone all tha time," Jake said. "Ya stayin' here at tha clinic," Jake asked.

Sally shrugged. "Yeah, but I'd rather not," she said. "But it's not like I have anywhere else to go," she said quietly to the floor.

Jake was quiet for a minute, thinking. "Ya wan' me ta see if ya can stay with Ellie fer a bit?"

Sally shook her head. "No. I like Ellie but I don't think I'd be very comfortable… she an' Tim…"

"Yeah, yer right," Jake said, knowing what she was going to say. Jake was quiet for a minute as he thought about the options. "What about Zach? What if he came ta stay with ya at tha house," he suggested. Sally could see that all the talking was wearing him out. He really didn't need to be worrying about her right now.

"Did I hear someone say my name," Zach said as he entered the room carrying a fresh glass of water. "Cindy asked me to bring this to you," he said to Jake as he set the glass down on the table next to the bed. He switched the straw into the new glass and offered it to Jake, who took a short sip before thanking Zach and nodding to Sally.

"Was jus' tellin' Sal I don' wan' 'er ta be alone all tha time an' she don' need ta be stayin' 'ere in tha clinic. Was gonna ask ya if ya would mind stayin' at tha house with 'er 'til… well 'til thangs settle down a bit," Jake breathed out. He was short of breath and his color was getting worse by the minute.

"Couse, Jake," Zach said. "Whatever you need me to do, I'll take care of it. Don't worry about Sally, we'll be just fine," he said. "You really should get some rest, man. You still got a lot of work ahead of you, so just relax. I'll take care of Sally until you're back on your feet."

"You don't have to worry about me, Jake. I'll be fine with Zach. You get some rest. Hopefully Alex and Scott will be back soon with the part to get the power back up and running and Dr. Benson will be able to finish up your surgery," Sally said optimistically.

Jake got a confused look on his face. "What'rya talkin' 'bout," Jake asked her. "What's Alex doing with Scott? Where'd they go," Jake asked, becoming increasingly agitated. The beeps of the monitor began to speed up and Sally became alarmed.

"Didn't anyone tell you what happened," Sally asked him, panicking. "Jake you gotta calm down, I'll tell you everything, but ya gotta relax," she pleaded.

Jake slowly took a breath and did his best to slow his heart rate. When the beeping finally began to slow, Sally started talking.

"From what I was told, Alex showed up just in time and killed most of the guys that surrounded the group, but you had already been shot. Then they got you stabilized and sent you back here while she and Scott went to Auburn to the shop that sold Scott the machinery in the first place. We're hoping they'll be back by tomorrow," Sally explained.

Jake was quiet for a moment while he digest the info. "What was she doin' there? How did she know," Jake breathed out.

"I don't know. No one here has talked to her, other than Leon, and he only talked to her about the prisoner. We have more questions than answers at this point, that's what I heard Ellie say," Sally replied. "Now, you have to get some rest. You need to be ready to go into surgery as soon as they get back with that part." Sally patted Jake's hand and gave him a cautious hug. "She'll be back, Jake. Scott will bring her back," Sally whispered to him before she stepped away from his bedside.

"Wait," Jake said softly. "If Scott's with Al, then that means Christine an' tha baby are alone too," he said, slowly churning out the words. "Maybe ya should see if she needs another set of hands, Sal. She shouldn't be alone either."

Sally didn't want to stay with Christine. That would mean staying at the clinic and it would mean she wouldn't be able to sneak out on the run. She had to be at the house or the barn to make that work.

"I don't know," Sally replied. "I don't want to be in the way."

Zach interrupted before Sally could say anymore. "I'm happy to stay with her, Jake, but this sounds like a good idea too. Besides, I saw you hide your pack, Sally. You know there's no way I'd let you go on the run with us, right? It's too dangerous and you are nowhere near being in good enough shape for that kind of exertion. But you could help Christine. It'll give you something to do while we're out on the run and it will bring comfort to Christine as well. She's got to be worried and stressed about Scott being gone right now," Zach said sympathetically.

Sally was irritated with Zach but she knew he was right. She wouldn't be any use out there because she really couldn't take care of herself. It would be selfish of her to sneak out. That didn't mean that she wanted to spend another night in the clinic though. She knew better than to argue, however. They were right.

"Fine. I'll go talk to Christine and see if she needs any help. But if she doesn't want me around we go back to the other plan," Sally insisted.

"Sure," Zach said. "But I doubt she's going to say she doesn't want you around."

"Sal, promise me ya won' try ta sneak out on tha run," Jake breathed. "I can' have ya out there too."

Sally shook her head. "I promise to stay here," she relented. "It was selfish of me… I just wanted to make sure Zach was alright… wanted to make sure he came back."

"I'll be back, Sal," Zach said.

"Alright. Jake, I'll come back and check on you tomorrow, okay," Sally asked him. Jake gave her a quick nod before closing his eyes.

"Take care a 'er," Jake mumbled.

"I will, Jake," Zach promised. He and Sally quietly stepped out into the corridor. "We should probably let the doc know that we told him about Alex. He got a bit agitated when he heard her name, might be important for the doc to know."

They took a few minutes to located Dr. Benson and explained how the visit went and what they had talked about.

"Thanks for letting me know. His reaction isn't surprising and it's probably best that the news came from you, Sally. You did good in keeping him calm and hopefully you are right and they will return with the parts sooner rather than later. He looks a little better than this morning but he's still really weak. I'll hold off on the surgery as long as I can," Dr. Benson replied.

"Thanks, doc. I'm going to see if Christine needs some help with Joey, offer to stay with her until Scott and Alex get back," Sally said.

"That sounds like a great idea," Dr. Benson said. "You let me know if you need anything."

"Thanks," Sally replied. "I will."

"So, you want me to go with you to talk to Christine," Zach asked once Dr. Benson had returned to his office.

"No, that's okay," Sally said. "I can do it myself. Besides, you need to get some rest. You've got a big day tomorrow."

"You sure? I don't mind. I can help you move stuff from your room," he offered.

Sally shook her head. "Nope. I'll just change in there tonight and get the rest figured out tomorrow. Thanks though," she said.

"Alright," Zach said, bringing Sally in for a big hug. "Night, kiddo."

"Night. You be careful on the run," she said seriously. "You've gotta come back."

Zach nodded. "I will do my best. Nothing fancy, just in, out and back home," he agreed. He gave her a big smile and then stepped out into the evening, leaving Sally standing alone in the hallway.

Sally stood there for a moment while she tried to figure out what she was going to say to Christine. She'd really only talked to the woman a couple of times but Christine had been very sweet and she was easy enough to talk to.

Sally figured they best thing was to just be direct. It wasn't like she was asking Christine to be her new mommy, she just needed a place to belong for a few days until she was more functional and things settled down a bit.

Sally walked to Scott and Christine's door and knocked lightly. There was no sound from within, but in a moment the handle turned and Christine's face appeared in the crack of the door.

"Hi," Sally said with a smile. "Can I talk to you for a minute," she asked.

"Sure! Come on in," Christine said, stepping aside and swinging the door open. She indicated the chair next to her bed for Sally to have a seat while Christine sat on the bed. "What's up," Christine asked.

Sally fiddled with her fingers in her lap while looking around the room. She finally brought her eyes to Christine's and got to the point. "Well, Jake is worried about me being alone all the time since things are so crazy right now and I'm still recovering so I'm kinda limited in how I can help out, but we were thinking that since Scott is gone maybe I could stay here with you… help out with Joey so you can get a little rest. What do you think," Sally asked.

Christine's face erupted in a huge smile. "That would be wonderful," she gushed. "It's very lonely here and it would be nice to have someone else to talk to. You can sleep in Scott's bed, Cindy just put new sheets on it this morning."

Sally smiled at her. "Okay, sounds good. I'll just get changed into my pajamas and grab my pillow from my room and then I'll be back."

"Okay, I'll be right here," Christine replied with a smile.

Sally went back to her room and got changed. She gathered her book and her pillow and headed back to the room. She and Christine got settled in for the evening. Christine talked about Joey's improvement and how his schedule was generally. When Joey woke up she explained the ways that Sally would be able to help her out and showed her how he liked to be held. There was not really much for Sally to do if Joey was hungry since he was being breastfed but she would be able to help out when Christine needed a shower or just wanted to take a little break.

Christine was happy to have someone to talk to and for another set of hands, just in case. As they talked, Sally relaxed and realized that she felt more comfortable than she had been in a long time. It was like a little oasis from the world, they were safe in this room and life looked like it might not always be so bad. Sally felt a little bit of hope blossom in her heart. Maybe Jake was right about this after all.

§

The rescue run left right on schedule the next morning and Zach was glad for that. If he was being honest, this run had him a bit nervous. He trusted the people he was with, many of whom had just been out on the previous run that had failed. He wasn't concerned that they would let him down; he was just worried about the veracity of the prisoner's information. The man seemed to be telling the truth, but they wouldn't know for sure until they got out there and saw for themselves how things stood.

They had taken two trucks and twenty people. Tim had thought it was overkill, but they didn't want to be at a disadvantage and they thought for sure they were dealing with ten people, even if the women weren't armed. Ellie wanted the numbers to be on their side.

Zach was teamed up with John and they were part of the "lead" team that would be going into the mine first. They had a loose plan based on what the prisoner had told them about the camp schedule and layout. They were prepared to make changes on the fly, but the hope was they wouldn't have to.

When they were about a mile out from the mine, they parked the trucks on the side of the road and made the rest of the trip on foot. It didn't take them long to reach the perimeter of the camp, designated by cans and other noisemakers hanging from rope and wires threaded through the trees at ankle level. They carefully stepped over the trap and then spread out to surround the camp. Zach and the rest of the lead team took point and headed straight in.

They stopped under the last cover of the trees to keep watch for a few minutes, determining whether what the prisoner told them was true. It was apparent within a few minutes that he was honest with them, as a few malnourished women emerged from the mine carrying empty water jugs. They were under the watchful eye, and gun, of an old man who looked to be about seventy. Zach was surprised for a moment that the women hadn't tried to overpower him but upon closer inspection, they all looked pretty beat up and they had probably been starved on purpose to keep them weak. Zach was glad they had come to save these women.

The old man led the women away from the mine entrance, towards the visitor's center. Behind that building, Zach knew, there was a spring fed creek. Like most kids that grew up in this area, they had been to the mine for a field trip in the fourth grade. Though Zach hadn't been back since then, it didn't look like anything had really changed in all those years. His attention was grabbed by John nodding his chin in the direction of the visitor's center; they were going to ambush the group. Zach followed John's lead as their group spread out and headed around the building.

It wasn't hard to take control of the group. While the women were at the creek filling the bottles the old man had taken a few steps downstream and started peeing along the shore. John and Zach took the opportunity to come up on him from behind; John slipped his hand around the man's mouth and secured him in a headlock while Zach took his gun and checked him for other weapons. The others from the group moved in to secure the women, in case they were going to put up a fight, but once they realized they weren't being threatened the women all threw themselves on the men closest to them. Before they could start crying, James told them they needed to be quiet.

"We're here to rescue you from these assholes, but we aren't out of the woods yet. We need to get inside to secure the rest of the men," he said quietly as John and Zach finished securing the old man's hands and gagging his mouth.

"You should kill him," one of the women said to John earnestly as she broke away from the other women and approached him and Zach. When she was close to the old man, tied and sitting on the ground, she swung her leg out and kicked him square in the kidney. The man grunted and slumped over to the side, hitting the ground with a thud. Zach reached out and grabbed the woman to keep her from kicking the man again.

"Get your hands OFF of me," she screamed. John reached out quickly and put his hand over her mouth, pulling her in close and securing her against his body. She struggled for a minute but when she realized she wasn't going anywhere her struggles ceased. John loosened his grip slightly, just enough for her to breathe easier.

"You want to join him down there tied up or you want to tell us why we should kill him," he asked calmly into her ear.

The woman looked panicked for a moment but she shook her head slowly and John removed his hand from her mouth. "You should kill him because he's the worst of the old men. He can't get it up anymore but that doesn't stop him… he rapes us with anything he can, broomsticks, rifle barrels… he even used a baseball bat on one girl… fucked her up so bad on the inside she ended up dying… He doesn't deserve your mercy," she begged them.

The old man just laid there on the ground with a horrible smile on his face. The group had a hushed discussion that ended when James bent down and quickly inserted his knife into the back of the old man's head. The group then turned their attention to the women.

"Alright, miss," James said. "Can you tell us about the inside of the mine? How many people are in there? Are they all in one area or spread out," James asked her.

The woman shook her head. "Everyone should be all grouped together. About twenty yards in it opens up into a wide space… the camp is set up there. They've got some lanterns set up, so you should be able to see them before they can see you. Just the two old men in there, they've both got rifles. I don't think they're the best shots, but they are armed."

The group retreated and met up with some of the members of their group. They explained the situation and were getting ready to head for the mine's entrance when the woman that had told them about the inside layout spoke up.

"I need to go with you… the rest of the women inside are worse off than we are, that's why we were the ones filling the water jugs. They're scared and they probably aren't going to react well to new men. They'll listen to me," she said.

"Alright, but if you betray us, if you attempt to give them any warning-" James said.

"I know, you'll kill me," she interrupted. "The only thing I'm interested in is getting the hell out of this place. You won't hear a peep out of me until it's time," she promised.

After making a slight adjustment to their plan to account for the woman, the group of eleven quietly entered the mine and slowly inched their way deeper and deeper underground. Zach could tell they were getting close when he spotted a faint light in the distance.

The woman was right, the lanterns were burning and they lit up the open space well. When they had consulted with past of the group outside they had decided the best plan was to take out the remaining guards with silenced shots from the darkness. There was no reason to confront them or try to take them back to the ranch. John and James took the shots, screams echoed through the cavern when the women realized the men had been shot. The group came out into the open and the woman rushed over to her counterparts who immediately stopped screaming upon seeing her. The woman quickly explained that they would be going with the newcomers and that they should grab anything they wanted to take with them.

After a few minutes the women were ready to leave, though two of them were in such bad shape they required assistance to walk. James and John carried them out to the trucks and helped them get settled. James pulled the woman to the side, within hearing of Zach.

"Is there anything else here that we should scavenge and take with us," James asked.

"I don't really know," she answered. "The main group probably took most of the guns with them… I think they kept them inside the mine, but I'm not sure. We were only allowed in that main area. They would take us to the visitor's center if they wanted alone time with us… I don't think there's anything in there worth taking. But I haven't seen them in a couple of days. I don't know where they went or when they'll be back. They were supposed to be hunting, there isn't much here to eat," she said. "My name's Allie, by the way," she said, sticking out a filthy hand for James to shake.

"James," he replied, shaking her hand. "That's John over there, and Zach behind ya. We'll get the rest of the introductions taken care of once we're on the road," James said.

"We should leave before the others come back," Allie said, looking around nervously.

"Don't think we have to worry about them… had a little run in with them yesterday. They didn't make it, except for the one we took prisoner. That's how we knew you were here," James explained as he helped Allie into the back of a truck. "We'll explain everything when we get back. We've got a doctor that can make sure you all are okay, plenty of food and a place for you to stay."

"What are we waiting for," Allie asked. "Let's get the hell out of here!"

"You heard the lady," James called, rapping on the roof of the truck. "Let's get the hell outta here!"

§

"Did you see that smoke to the southwest," Zach asked John as they pulled through the gate. The ride back was uneventful and Zach had noticed the smudge in the sky when they were driving back on the ridge road. It was pretty far away, but Zach was pretty sure it was close to Auburn.

"Yeah, I saw it," John said. "Hope it means they got what they needed and are well on their way home."

"Me too. Jake wasn't looking so great when I saw him last night. He needs that surgery," Zach said, concern evident in his voice.

"They'll be back. In the meantime, we've got work to do. You gonna help get these ladies settled into a trailer," John asked.

"Of course. Whatever needs to be done. They'll probably all want to stay together, at least for a while. That's how it usually works when new people come in. But you know Norma and Betty will probably move them all into the bunkhouse so they can make sure they're well fed," Zach teased.

"Yeah, that's probably true," John said with a smile. "In any case, there'll be plenty to keep your mind off of Jake."

"I hope so," Zach said. "Being busy helps a bit."

The trucks came to a stop in front of the barn and people began approaching to help unload the passengers. Dr. Benson and Doc Hobbs were amongst the greeting party and once the women were all off the trucks they were taken to the bunkhouse where they were interviewed and examined in private. It was decided that the two women in the worst shape would be taken straight to the clinic. They were dehydrated and malnourished, and the doctors wanted to get IV's in them immediately. Dr. Benson also suspected they both had infections as they both had low grade fevers. Given the statements made about their treatment at the camp, he suspected it was related to repeated sexual assaults. The other women were going to stay at the bunkhouse and get cleaned up, eat and then figure out living arrangements. They would come by the clinic later to be evaluated thoroughly.

Betty and Norma took the lead on things, so after checking in with Ellie and eating, he went to check on Sally at the clinic. Sally was busy with Joey, holding him while Christine took a shower. Zach had just wanted to let her know that the run went smoothly and that he was back. He didn't linger long at the clinic though. Back at the barn, the women were getting settled in at the bunkhouse, as Zach had suspected. The other women that had been staying there were giving up their rooms so the newcomers could bunk together while they got accustomed to their new living situation.

Zach spent the rest of the day helping the women move from the bunkhouse to the trailers they would be sharing and the time passed quickly. Before he knew it the sun was starting to get low on the horizon and he was being called to dinner at the bunkhouse. Sally had come up for dinner and he joined her at their usual table.

"Well, how did your day go," Zach asked her when he sat down.

"Pretty good, I guess," Sally replied between bites. "Pretty much just held the baby all day and learned how to change him and stuff. Mostly just talked to Christine about stuff… what she did before this happened, how things were at the the bunker she and Scott were in… they were on the road a long time," she said. "I can't believe they made it here, through all of it. Especially with little Joey."

"Yeah, they got pretty lucky, that's for sure," Zach agreed.

Ellie came rushing over to the table with a walkie in her hand. She looked worried. "What's wrong," Zach asked her.

"Cindy just radioed… Jake's vitals took a dive and they can't wait anymore to start the surgery," she said, her voice shaken.


	22. Ch 22 Everything's Moving

It was almost noon when they reached the Crawford's quarterhorse farm. They had run into a few larger groups of the dead and it had taken them a while to fight their way through. When they reached the property, Alex and Scott waited with Jackson and the others while Andrew, Jesse and Hunter cautiously climbed the gate and walked up the main drive. They decided it was probably safest to just approach the house directly, in plain sight. They kept their weapons holstered or hanging at their sides, careful to not look threatening.

They didn't make it far before a woman's voice called out for them to stop where they were and to put their weapons on the ground. The boys followed instructions, raising their hands in the air and taking several steps back once the guns were on the ground. They were soon being approached by a heavily armed group of four, covered head to toe so they couldn't tell who they were.

Andrew waited until they were close enough to actually make out their faces before addressing their would-be captors.

"I'm Andrew Reeves, this is my brother Jesse and my cousin -"

"Hunter," exclaimed a female voice from under a hood. She pulled the hood from her head as she ran right up to Hunter and threw her arms around his neck. Hunter reacted quickly and wrapped his arms around the girl's waist.

"Annie," Hunter cried excitedly when he realized it was her and he wrapped her into a hug.

The others began removing their hoods, revealing Annie's sisters, Stephanie and Kayla and their older brother, Bobby. The atmosphere relaxed considerably and the group took a moment to greet one another with big smiles and long hugs.

"What on earth are you guys doing here," Stephanie asked the group at large.

"It's kinda a long story and we're in a bit of a hurry. We've got others with us, they're waiting at the gate," Andrew said.

"Well, let's bring them in and we can retreat to the house. You can tell us what's going on," Bobby said, looking past the group to the gate.

Andrew sent Jesse to get the rest of the group while he and Hunter began explaining what was happening. By the time Jesse and the others reached them, Andrew was just finishing up.

"So, we're heading back with Scott and Alex. They've got an actual community set up, not to far from here. Power, water, crops, fences, the whole nine. Time is of the essence, though, and we were really hoping you guys would loan us some horses to make the trip. There's room for you guys too, Scott says," Andrew finished.

"He's right," Scott said as he joined the group. He extended his hand to each new person and introduced himself and Alex. "I hate to be short, but we really do need to be on the move, so if you can't loan us the horses we should be on our way. You are very welcome to join us, though," Scott added.

"Well, it's not up to us," Bobby replied. "We have to talk to Ma and Pa, they're in the house. I doubt they'll have a problem with letting the horses go, but we gotta ask," he said apologetically.

"Lead the way," Scott said.

The farmhouse was still in excellent condition, clearly they had made upkeep a priority in the apocalypse. Scott had some concerns about how this would go. If they were making painting the house their first priority, they may not see Scott and Alex's mission as critical.

The group was led into the house, down the hallway and into the kitchen where they were greeted by two elderly folks sitting at the kitchen island, eating apple slices. They looked up when everyone entered the room, seemingly unsurprised at the large group of newcomers.

"Pa, this is Andrew Reeves, you remember him from school? His dad was John Reeves from the hardware store," the eldest daughter, Stephanie told her father. Pa Crawford looked at the boy but didn't give any hint of recognition. When he remained silent, Stephanie continued talking.

"Their group is on the way to a community, Pa. They say we can go with them, that there's room for everyone," she patiently explained.

"What's wrong with you, girl," Ma Crawford barked from her chair. "You just gonna run off with the any man that comes along? Gonna get yourself killed… or worse," she said with disdain.

Scott was unhappy with this turn in the conversation. He'd suspected that something was not quite right with the group from the way the young man had apologized for having to ask his parents about the horses. These people weren't going to come with them. They were wasting time.

Stephanie was silenced by her mother's accusations and the other girls looked uncomfortable as they stood there. Alex looked around at the girls, afraid of these two old people and she felt herself filling with anger. This was a waste of time and they needed to get home to help Jake.

"Look, I hate to interrupt this happy family moment, but are you gonna let us use the horses or not? We really need to be going and it's clear ya'll aren't going anywhere," she said.

"Horses? Horse thieves! Where's your gun, boy," the old man shouted. "Shoot these thieving bastards!" The old man tried to push himself up to standing but his legs wouldn't hold and he sank back down onto the chair. "Don't just stand there! Give me the damn thing and I'll shoot them, you damn coward!"

Bobby took a step back from his father so the man couldn't grab for the gun. "Maybe we should step into the living room," he suggested. "Pa, we're going to take care of it right now. You and Ma stay here," he shouted to the old man.

From the living room they could still hear the old man ranting about horse thieves and the old woman yelling about whores. Scott was even more convinced that these kids needed to come with them. But there was no way they were going to leave their parents here, and Scott couldn't see how they could convince Ma and Pa to go with them.

"Sorry about that. They have good days and bad days," Bobby said. "They were fine earlier. Look, you guys take whatever horses you need. Everything is down in the barn."

"You guys should come with us. You're not safe out here alone," Scott said.

"I know, but we can't leave them here and they aren't going to leave willingly," Stephanie said.

"I hate to be so callous about it, but what are you waiting for? They're already senile - they can't take care of themselves or defend anyone else. Honestly, they're a liability and a drain on resources. You should just put them out of their misery and come with us," Alex said.

The reproachful looks from the Crawford's told her they were not willing to entertain this thought. "Fine. Suit yourselves. Let me ask you all a question. When they die in their sleep, are you going to be able to put them down then or are you just going to let them bite all of you," Alex asked.

"Hey, crazy," Bobby said pointedly to Alex. "Why don't you shut up? You don't know what the hell you're talking about. We aren't going to kill our parents."

In one quick move Alex pulled her knife from her belt and pounced on Bobby, slamming him up against a wall and sending several framed photographs crashing to the floor. She held the knife steady against his throat while the rest of his group looked on in horror. Scott pulled his gun and held it at the ready but didn't aim it at anyone.

"First off, I'm not crazy. And I know a thing or two about killing your parents - I had to put my mother down after she turned. It wasn't easy, but it was for the best. If you four want a chance at survival, maybe even living, you need to come with us. Either leave them here to die and turn, which seems like the cruel thing to do, or take control of the situation and put them down before you leave. It's the kindest thing, really. Or you can stay here and wait to die," she finished.

When she was done talking, Alex released Bobby and put her knife back in the sheath. Bobby pushed himself away from the wall and rubbed his throat, but he really didn't look all that upset. Annie and Kayla were crying while Stephanie just stood there shooting daggers at Alex with her eyes.

"Look, I know this isn't an easy decision to make, but Alex and I don't have the luxury of time," Scott said. "And I hate to do this, but we can't tell you where our place is. If you want to join us, you've got to come with us now. I know it's a hard decision to make in such a short amount of time, but that's what you've got to do," Scott said.

"Why don't you guys go ahead and saddle up the horses. My sisters and I need a few minutes to discuss this," Bobby said.

"I don't need to talk about it," Stephanie said. "We can't just kill them, they're our parents," she cried.

"Yeah, they are," Annie said. "But Alex is right; we're just waiting here to die. I don't want to die, Steph. And I don't want to stay here with Ma and Pa and watch them forget who we are, or have to fight with them about things that are in their best interest. I don't want to do it, Steph. I want to go with Alex and Scott."

Alex, Scott and the rest of their group headed to the barn to begin saddling horses. There were ten saddles in the tack room but there were fifteen of them, assuming the Crawford's would be joining them. Scott quickly arranged the smaller kids to ride with the older kids, and Jackson and Sissy would ride double on the mule, which meant they would have enough saddles for all but two riders. Alex immediately volunteered to ride bareback.

By the time they were finished with the saddles, Annie and Kayla had joined them with a couple of packs and several rifles. Annie said she didn't mind riding bareback, so after putting the harness on her mount, she helped saddle the last two horses.

"Bobby and Steph will be here soon," she told them. "They're taking care of Ma and Pa first."

"Alright, let's get everyone out on the road and we'll wait for them there," Scott suggested.

They took the opportunity to eat some of the supplies they'd brought and made sure that the little ones drank some water. They were planning on pressing as hard as the horses would let them once they got moving. As it was, they probably wouldn't make it back to the Lazy H before dark.

Within ten minutes they were joined by Bobby and Stephanie, who was clearly pissed off. She kept glaring at Alex, but she was keeping to herself. She stayed next to her brother and when they lined up to ride out, she and Bobby kept to the back of the line.

The route Scott and Alex had planned on taking back would keep them clear of the main road and would have been ideal had all of their rides been experienced. But with so many little ones, and many of the horses carrying double loads, it was going to be a challenge jumping fences and dodging brush. The travel would end up being too slow. After a brief discussion with the group they decided to take the risk and push hard on the open road and hope they didn't run into anyone.

There were lots of cars left on the road and many of them had dead inside, trapped by seat belts and closed doors. The sound of the horses approaching prompted the corpses to animate, desperately trying to reach for human flesh. They spurred the horses into a fast trot and pushed on through the highway graveyard.

After about an hour traveling like this they came upon a pileup that encompassed the entire roadway. There was a steep drop off on one side of the road and a cliff on the other. They would have to backtrack a bit to get around the area. Alex, Andrew and Hunter broke off from the group and headed back to look for the easiest way around. After ten minutes, they returned with grim faces.

"It's a good news, bad news situation," Andrew said when they regrouped. "The good news is there's a way around. The bad news is there's a shit load of dead the easy way and the harder way is going to lead us along the ridge and in the opposite direction of where we want to go."

Scott shook his head. "If we follow the ridge it will take us at least an extra hour to reach the nearest place to cross over and head back towards the ranch. How many dead are between us and the easy way," he asked.

"There's at least a hundred down there," Alex said. "Area's flat, but it's close to a spring, so the ground is probably a bit marshy right now… horses will probably take a while to pick their way through the bog. We'll have to deal with the dead on foot first before we can get through with the horses," she said.

"We can't take all of them out," Stephanie said, breaking her silence for the first time since they left the farm.

"Maybe _you_ can't," Alex said, "but we can. There aren't that many of them, and if we can get them moving we may not have to kill any of them at all. But we'll need someone to keep an eye on the kids and make sure the horses don't take off, so you'll still be able to make yourself useful," she remarked snidely. "I think there are enough of us that we can handle them, and there are some strategically placed rock piles that will work in our favor, if we can stick to the plan. But we'll have to move fast if this is going to work," she finished, looking around at the group.

"What do you have in mind," Hunter asked.

Alex laid out her plan for them, fielding a few questions from Scott and Hunter and meeting with daggers every time she made eye contact with Stephanie. But Alex was not deterred, especially when Scott, Hunter and Andrew all backed her on the plan. When there were no further questions, the group back tracked to the point where the non-fighters would veer off and follow the ridgeline out of sight of the road. They would wait there until the others came to retrieve them. If they didn't come back after two hours, they were to follow the ridge and then head northeast. Scott was sure that some of their patrols would come across the survivors and bring them in, assuming everything back home was still the same.

The fighters returned on foot to the location where the fight would take place. There was a small group of dead that were separated from the main group and Alex led several people in a silent attack on them. They dragged the bodies back to the rest of their people and began cutting them up, smearing their bodies and covering their clothes with the blood and guts of the dead. Several of the bodies were still in relatively decent shape and they skinned as many whole pieces off each body as they could so a few of them could cover themselves with the skins.

Alex, Hunter and Chris would be working in the herd, maneuvering them to the location where the others would be attacking from. There was an odd grouping of rocks in the middle of a field that created a partially guarded circle, with three openings. Two of the openings would allow for one person at a time to walk through while the third opening would allow two people at a time to walk through. They were going to station the remaining five fighters inside the circle of rocks with their scent disguised which they hoped would keep the herd from getting riled up into a frenzy. This way they could just move them around the circle and kill them leisurely instead of in a panic.

When everyone was covered in death, Scott, Andrew, Bobby, Annie and Kayla stationed themselves in the rock circle while Alex, Hunter and Chris slowly made their way into the herd. Alex took the lead while the guys hung back to make sure they didn't have any stragglers. Alex took a rock and threw against another rock, which was enough noise to get some of the dead moving. Alex started ambling towards the circle and the others followed; she led them in a slow march around the circle, where knives were surreptitiously being stabbed into eyes and temples. Bodies began dropping to the ground but others quickly took their place.

From Alex's viewpoint, the plan seemed to be working. The herd wasn't yet riled up and they were still following Alex around the circle. Once she made it around one time, Alex worked her way to the outer edge of the circle, where the guys were supposed to be. In a few moments she was completely outside the circle but she didn't see Chris or Hunter. Alex continued to wander around the circle; making sure things were going according to the plan. The pile of dead on the ground was becoming significant and making it difficult for those within the circle to easily reach the newcomers. The dead were trying to get into the circle, tripping on the pile of bodies and falling over into the circle. The fighters would then have to break their focus on the entrance of the circle to kill them on the ground. Alex wasn't pleased with this turn of events.

She quickly estimated the herd to be down to about half of what they started with. While trying to come up with a plan, Hunter startled her, grabbing her by the elbow. Alex turned with her knife ready but she lowered it when she realized it was Hunter. He nodded to a lone figure standing a ways off from them and they carefully made their way over.

"We gotta do something to draw them away from the rocks. The others are in danger with them falling into the circle," Hunter quickly whispered.

"I know, I just realized what was happening," Alex replied. "Got any ideas," she asked.

"Chris wants to make some noise to lead them away, then you and I can get in there and help the others pull the bodies away," Hunter suggested.

"That's gonna take too long," Alex replied. "There's at least fifty bodies on the ground already. If Chris leads them away the rest of us can attack from the back and work our way through the herd. If we get into a jam we can fight in formation and finish them off," Alex said.

"That'll work too," Hunter said. He whispered a few words to his brother before Chris headed off to get a little distance between him and the herd, then he let out a sharp whistle and began waving his arms over his head. A few of the dead peeled off from the circle and went after Chris while Alex and Hunter made their way closer to the rocks. The slowly began following after Chris, peeling off a few at a time.

Hunter eventually had to maneuver himself into a group that refused to be lured from the double wide opening where Kayla and Andrew were fighting and on the verge of being overwhelmed. He dropped a few with his knife and was just about to take down another when it lurched out of his reach and fell over the pile of bodies into the circle. Kayla and Andrew were ready for it and jumped back out of the way, but Kayla tripped and landed on her butt, her leg within reach of the dead one. He grabbed her booted foot and began pulling at her, trying to bring her closer to his mouth. Kayla began screaming and flailing her legs trying to pull away while Andrew came up and stomped on its head, which exploded like a rotten pumpkin and got brains and gore all over Kayla's legs.

"You okay," Andrew asked as he helped Kayla to her feet.

Kayla nodded her head as she tried to regain her composure. "I think so," she replied.

"We gotta change the plan," Hunter grunted out as he finished eliminating the dead around him. "As soon as you can, all five of you leave together, stay in formation and meet me and Alex at the rear of the herd," he said as he pulled his knife out of the last dead on that refused to leave. Andrew nodded his understanding and Hunter left to try to move the herd so the others could get out.

In a matter of minutes, Hunter had attracted enough of the stragglers that he thought the fighters in the circle would be able to finish them off easily. He figured they had just under half of the herd left to eradicate. He began slowing his pace and working his way to the back of the group. Alex appeared on his right and they began killing the dead that lumbered in front of them. Soon the rest of the group caught up with them and they were hacking their way through the dead. In just a few minutes the dead were splayed out on the field before them. The entire attack had taken less than an hour.

After the last body dropped the group began removing their "death suits" before starting the short walk back to the ridge. They had only been walking for a minute when Kayla called out, asking for them to stop for a minute. Bobby and Annie gathered around their sister while the rest of the group milled around, anxious to be back on the move.

"What's wrong," Annie asked as Kayla grabbed at her calf.

"I don't know," Kayla answered. "My calf is burning."

Annie helped Kayla pull her pant leg up and let out a sharp hiss when she saw the exposed leg.

"Shit," Annie cried.

The others quickly surrounded the pair on the ground, Scott joining them on the ground when he realized what they were looking at. Kayla had gotten scratched on the calf; a long ugly red cut ran half the length of her calf, ending just above her boot. In all the action, and with adrenaline pounding through her veins, Kayla hadn't noticed the feeling until things had calmed down.

"Maybe it wasn't from one of the dead," Bobby voiced, though it was clear from his tone that even he didn't believe what he was saying.

Scott didn't say anything as he removed his belt and cinched it just below Kayla's knee. "We might be able to save her," he said, "but we'll have to act fast. And it's means amputating her leg below the knee."

The group was silent for a moment while Scott's words sunk in. Annie was the first to break the silence.

"How are we supposed to do that? She'll die from the loss of blood," Annie said.

"She'll die from the infection if we don't try," Scott said. "We have to act now. It doesn't take long for the infection to travel through the blood. If it makes it past the tourniquet, it'll be too late to do anything at all."

"Do it! Cut it off! I don't want to die," Kayla cried.

"You might die anyway," Annie argued. "What if you bleed to death?"

"Then at least I will have died trying to live," Kayla countered. "Isn't that the whole reason Bobby and Steph put Ma and Pa down? So we weren't just waiting there to die?"

The group was quiet while the weight of the fourteen year old's' words hit them.

"Okay, if you're certain this is what you want, we need to do it now," Scott said. "Hunter, can you start a fire? We're gonna need to cauterize the stump. Anyone got anything metal with a wide surface," Scott asked the group at large.

When no one answered, Alex spoke up. "We passed a farmhouse not too far back, I'll go scavenge any medical supplies and I'll keep an eye out for a cast iron pan or something."

"Sounds good. The faster the better," Scott said.

Alex took off running for the ridge so she could grab her horse and make the trip faster. Hunter and Chris began gathering tinder and wood for a fire and once they had enough to start with, Hunter got the blaze going while Chris continued to gather wood. It would take quite a bit of wood to get the fire as hot as they were going to need it.

There was a brief discussion about whether or not they should bring the ridge group down to them, but in the end it was decided to go get them. They would have questions from seeing Alex take her horse and while it would be horrific for the children to watch, it certainly was a cautionary tale in the dangers of this new world. The little ones needed to learn that lesson early. Andrew and Jesse went to retrieve them.

Once the entire group, minus Alex, was gathered, Scott and the others began going through their supplies. They laid a blanket out on a flat piece of ground close to where they were building the fire. Bobby carried his sister to the blanket and he and Annie helped to make her as comfortable as possible. The wound on her leg was quickly turning dark around the edges and red streaks were already emanating from the wound heading up towards Kayla's knee. They were going to have to start very soon.

They laid out all the supplies they had. Scott and Alex had picked up a small first aid kit at the pawn shop and it had small bottles of rubbing alcohol and iodine. The best knife that they had was Hunter's hunting knife, it had the longest blade, with a long serrated section for cutting through bone. It was no bone saw, but it was better than a pocket knife. Scott poured the rubbing alcohol over his hands and the knife while Bobby poured the iodine over Kayla's leg where they would be cutting it off. Bobby folded his belt and placed it between Kayla's teeth and he and Annie each took a side of her upper body, ready to hold her down once Scott got started. They all hoped the girl would pass out when the first incision was made, but they couldn't be certain she would and they needed to be ready.

Just as Scott was getting ready to make the cut, Alex galloped up and jerked her horse to a stop just short of the fire. "I got a bunch of good stuff, including a butcher's knife," she said, pulling it out of her bag and handing it to Scott. She added her bounty to the supplies on the blanket, including more rubbing alcohol, two bottles of whiskey, a big bottle of water and a pot to boil it in, some gauze and some tape. She then pulled out a medium sized cast iron skillet and gave it to Hunter who set up some rocks around the fire so they could lay the pan over the flames to get it hot. She put the pot of water on to boil and put a smaller knife that she'd found over the flames, in case they needed to burn a partial area to stop the bleeding.

After giving the girl a large drink from the whiskey bottle, Scott started cutting. Kayla screamed at the first cut, forcing Annie to cover her mouth to try to stifle the sound. It was only a moment though before Kayla passed out and they were able to continue on without having to fight her.

Unfortunately, Kayla's screams had drawn some attention, as a handful of dead stumbled out of the brush across the meadow. Andrew, Jesse and Hunter went to deal with them, with Alex, Bobby, Chris and Annie ready to jump in if needed. Scott continued to saw, only able to hope the others could deal with the threat of the dead long enough to get the leg patched up.

The boys dispatched the dead; Andrew and Jesse hung back in case any more arrived while Hunter returned to the fire. Chris had added a few more logs to keep it burning hot; the pan smoked over the fire while the blade for the knife glowed a dull red.

"Shit," Scott yelled. "I need to cauterize this bleeder," he said, "I can't see anything."

Alex grabbed the knife with a piece of leather and handed it to Scott.

"Pour some water right there," he said to Alex, pointing with the knife. Hunter handed her some of the boiled water that had cooled and she poured it slowly over the area. Scott then pressed the red hot knife to the flesh, sealing the artery and stopping the main source of bleeding. He then went back to sawing through the rest of the bone. It took them another ten minutes but he finally got through. Scott took the pan and held it to the stump, filling the air with the horrid stench of burning flesh. When he was finished, he sat back on his heels and took a long drink from the whiskey bottle.

Scott poured some of the whiskey over his hands and Alex did the same before she helped him bandage the wound. It wasn't bleeding at the moment, but once they got her up on a horse and they started moving, it would probably start oozing. Hopefully it would hold long enough to make it back home and she could get treated properly.

All told, once they were finally mounted up and back on the move, they had lost just over two hours and the sun was now inching closer to the western horizon. They were definitely not going to make it back before dark. After waking Kayla and putting her on Bobby's horse with him, they pressed on, through the meadow of the dead and around the pile up on the road before eventually making it back up to the road and charging ahead. They ran as hard as they could until they lost the light and the exhausted horses forced them to a quick walk.

Finally, about an hour after full dark, they were in familiar territory and it was none too soon. Kayla's leg had started bleeding at some point and had soaked through the bandages. Rather than stop to re-dress it, they just tied a tourniquet above the knee and hoped it would work. Kayla was pale and fading in and out consciousness, but they were less than twenty minutes from home. They were going to make a run for it.

When they finally reached the dirt road that led home, they were greeted by armed, shadowy figures that melted out of the darkness.

"Stop right there," the big man in front ordered. The front of Scott and Alex's shirts suddenly had red dots aimed over their hearts, since they were in the lead. Scott held his hand up and brought the group to a halt.

"It's Scott and Alex," Scott called out to them. "We've got the part -"

"Oh man, you guys better hurry," John interrupted, stepping closer and shining a light so they could see him. The red dots vanished from their shirts. "Ellie called a couple of hours ago and said they had to rush Jake into surgery. I'll radio in and let them know you're coming," he said.

"Tell them we've got an injured girl that's going to need attention too," Scott called back to him as they kicked their horses into a walk and then a gallop.


	23. 23Darkness Shrugs & Bids the Day Goodbye

Ellie, Tim and Zach met the group at the gate with a truck and Scott, Alex, Kayla and Bobby rode with Ellie and Tim to the clinic. Zach took the rest of the group and the spare horses to the barn where the welcome wagon was once again rolled out.

Betty and Norma brought everyone into the bunkhouse and got them cleaned up and fed. There was lots of chatter in the house, with everyone talking and explaining all at once. In the midst of it all, James came in, leading the prisoner.

"Sorry to be a bother, Miss Betty," James said sweetly, as if he were addressing his own grandmother, "But it seems Leon forgot to feed our prisoner dinner. Do you think you could rustle something up for him?"

"Of course, dear," Betty replied. She puttered around the kitchen and piled things on a plate before handing it to James. "There you go," she said with a smile.

"Thank you, ma'am," the prisoner said.

Upon hearing his voice, several of the new arrivals turned to see who was speaking.

"Jeremy," screeched a young girl's voice. "OH MY GOD, Jackson! It's Jeremy," Jilly cried before flinging herself across the room and straight into the prisoner's torso. All the chatter and movement in the room stopped.

"We thought you were dead," Jilly cried. Her twin Jackson had hobbled over and joined her, wrapping his arms around the prisoner as well.

"There were times I thought I was," Jeremy replied. "Man, can you please uncuff me," he asked James. "I'd like to hug my brother and sister."

James clearly was confused by the situation, but he didn't see the harm in letting the man go. They obviously knew each other. James unlocked the cuffs and Jeremy scooped the kids into a big bear hug, tears rolling down all three of their faces. Some of the other kids that had just arrived, Andrew, Jesse, Hunter and Chris all gathered around to give their cousin a hug, then the entire group made their way to a table and ate the bounty that Norma and Betty laid out for them. It was a happy scene, there were big smiles and the sweet sounds of laughter and happy chatter filled the air. James sat back with Zach, Norma and Betty and watched the scene before them.

"What are the odds that they would find each other here," Norma asked no one in particular. "What a miracle!"

"We should let Ellie and Tim know what's going on," James said. "Don't feel right keeping him locked up, not with his family here. He's been nothing but honest with us since we found him. Don't seem like much of a problem."

"I'll let them know," Zach said. "I was going to head down to the clinic once everyone got settled in here."

"Thanks, Zach. I'll keep an eye on things here, but let Ellie and Tim know that they should probably come figure out what to do about the prisoner, er, Jeremy," James corrected.

Just then, the power came back on, illuminating the house. Cheers could be heard from all over the barn and bunkhouse area.

"Hopefully that will help them get Jake through his surgery," Zach said, to no one in particular. "I'll be back in a little bit, guys," he said before rushing off into the night.

§

Everyone in the clinic was in a frenzy, and Zach looked around for a way to help. The first person he encountered was Sally.

"What's going on, Sal? Can I help with anything," he asked as he watched Nurse Cindy run past with a surgical tray full of instruments.

"They've been running around since the power came back on… had to change things up I guess, I think it took a minute for them to get everything changed over from the generator… sounded like it wasn't looking good for Jake for a while, but I think they're back to work now," Sally answered. "I heard someone say that Alex came back with the group… have you seen her," Sally asked hopefully.

Zach shook his head. "Nope, haven't seen her yet. But the kids down at the barn seem to be pretty taken with her, heard a couple of the boys talking about how badass she was out there," he said.

"Kids? They brought kids back," Sally asked, her interest piqued.

"They sure did. They brought thirteen new people in, the youngest I think is seven, someone mentioned the oldest brother was here, he's twenty one, I think. I can't tell if they're all related or what," Zach commented. "Oh, speaking of related, the prisoner? Turns out he's the brother of some of the kids that just arrived. Pretty crazy, right?"

"Wow. That's amazing. Are we going to let him go then," Sally asked.

"I don't know. James uncuffed him and he's eating with the new arrivals now. James said he didn't feel right keeping him locked up, he's been honest with us the whole time and hasn't tried anything. I was coming to talk to Ellie and Tim about it, see what they wanted to do. I take it they're busy helping out," Zach said.

"Dr. Benson and Cindy are working on Jake. When they arrived with the injured girl Doc Hobbs left the surgery to help her. I think the others are in there helping him," Sally answered.

"What about the women we brought in from the mine," Zach asked.

"Benson's got them all hooked up to IV's and stuff. Had them squared away before Jake needed surgery. They're in a room together, but I'm pretty sure they've been asleep pretty much since they got here," Sally said.

The front door opened and Scott and Alex entered the clinic. Sally launched herself across the room and threw her arms around Alex. Alex was startled, but quickly recovered and wrapped her arms around Sally. Before long the two girls were crying and slumped down to the floor in a heap of snot and tears. Scott quietly followed Zach into the next room.

"That's good," Scott said relief evident in his voice. "Alex has been pretty shaken up about this whole thing; her decision to run away weighs heavy on her, in light of how events played out. I told her that she was in the right place at the right time, that without her help the entire group that went to town would have been killed. But she doesn't see it that way, of course. Sally's reaction will go a long way to help bring Alex back to us, I think," Scott said hopefully.

"Sally's been pretty busted up about Alex taking off. I'm glad she didn't react in anger," Zach said. "I know she's really been missing her, feeling alone here with Jake injured and no one to talk to except me."

"How are things going here? How's Jake," Scott asked.

"Not sure, I just got here myself," Zach said. "Sally said they've been harried since the power came back on, but I haven't seen anyone come back out from Jake's room, so I assume things are going okay."

"What about Kayla? The girl with the amputated leg," Scott asked.

"Sally said Doc Hobbs is working on her with Ellie and Tim's help," Zach answered. "I haven't seen anyone go in there or come out since I got here."

"I'm going to go see if anyone needs my help," Scott said. "Let Alex know, if she asks."

"Will do," Zach answered.

§

There weren't many words exchanged between Sally and Alex in the first ten minutes of their reunion. They just cried and hugged one another, eventually sliding down to the floor together. When the tears finally stopped rolling, the girls separated, sitting next to one another against the wall.

"I'm sorry, Sally," Alex said first. "I was so stupid to leave the ranch… I was stupid for leaving you and Jake… I don't know what I was thinking… I was just so angry and nothing was making any sense…" Her voice drifted off at the end and Alex stared at the floor.

"I was so mad at you at first," Sally admitted. "I was pissed that you just let me get hurt and then ran away and left me," she said slowly. Alex looked terrified at what Sally would say next. "But then I realized how alone I was without you and I missed you… then Jake got shot and all I wanted was for you to come back. I didn't want to be left all alone here."

"I'm sorry you got hurt, Sally. I should have come back for help after we were attacked at the house, not gone after them to retaliate. What happened to you is completely my fault and I can't ever do anything to fix that or make it better. But I'm going to try, I will do everything in my power to make sure you never get hurt again and I won't be making anymore rash decisions that will affect everyone. I'm stepping down from the council and I'm going to focus on you and Jake and the people on the ranch," Alex explained.

"I'm glad you came back," Sally told her.

"Me too. Although, to be honest, I thought I'd never see this place again. Even after Scott found me and made me go with him to Auburn, I still wasn't sure I'd come back… I don't know how I'm going to face Jake… didn't think I could face you, after everything I did," Alex admitted.

"It wasn't so bad, was it," Sally asked. Alex looked confused. "Facing me, it wasn't so bad, was it," she clarified.

Alex smiled. "No, it wasn't so bad," she said.

"He'll be so happy that you're back," Sally said quietly. "It broke him to have to choose fixing the power over coming to find you… I'm glad he won't have to come out of this wondering where you are. It would have been next to impossible to keep him down long enough to recover if you were still out there. Come on, we should go see how his surgery is going," Sally said as she slowly got to her feet and held out her hand to Alex. Alex hesitated for just a moment before taking Sally's hand and pulling herself to her feet. They made their way to what used to be the dining room and took a seat next to Zach to wait for someone to come out and tell them what was going on.

Scott came out of the treatment room where they were working on Kayla after a few minutes and took a seat next to Alex.

"How's she doing," Alex asked.

"As well as can be expected, I guess," Scott replied. "She lost a lot of blood, but it turns out her brother is the same blood type, so they got him set up giving a direct transfusion. Her color is already a little better. Doc removed the last bit of bone that I couldn't get and then patched it up. She's on IV antibiotics to ward off infection. Now we just let her rest and see how she heals."

"That's good," Alex said.

Their attention was drawn to the other procedure room door where Dr. Benson, Ellie and Tim were all exiting. Scott, Alex, Sally and Zach all jumped up from their chairs and hurried over to the others.

"Okay," Dr. Benson said, holding his hands up in front of him, "Let's all step away from the door and I'll fill you in on everything," he said, leading the group back to the dining room.

"I got all the bullet fragments out and I was able to stop all the internal bleeding. There was damage done to his right lung and his shoulder was torn up pretty bad, but I think I was able to repair most of the damage and he should recover with few lingering effects, though his range of motion may be limited. No way to know now. The lung was punctured, but the hole was small, probably why he didn't stop breathing on the way back here. Overall, I think things look good for Jake, but it's going to be a while before he's back in fighting shape," Dr. Benson concluded.

Relief washed over everyone's faces as they hugged one another in celebration. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go check on the others that came in today," the doctor added.

"Thanks, Doc," Scott said, shaking the man's hand.

"Well, that's good news," Ellie said. "I have a new appreciation for just how hard that man works," Ellie said of the doctor. "We'd be fucked without him."

"That's a true statement," Tim said.

"Hey, not to change the subject or anything," Zach said with a grin, "but I need to change the subject. You remember the prisoner? Well, it turns out he's the older brother of a couple of the kids that came back with Scott and Alex. James didn't feel right keeping him cuffed and locked up, not when he's been honest with us and no trouble at all since we brought him in… James is keeping an eye on him, but I think he'd feel better if someone from the council told him he was doing the right thing."

"Really," Sally asked with amazement. "What are the chances that they would be reunited, this long into the end of the world?"

"We really could use the rest of the council's help on this one," Ellie said, looking at Scott. "I know you said you didn't want to be on the council, but with Jake out, we really need another person making decisions with us. It can't just be the two of us," she said, looking at Tim.

"Alex is part of the council too," Sally reminded them.

Alex shifted uncomfortably on her feet, uneasy with everyone's attention focused on her. "Not anymore," she said quietly. "I shouldn't be making decisions for anyone."

"For now, I think that's a fair choice, Alex," Scott said. "However, the group does need a council, and there has to be more than two people calling the shots, I agree. I will take Jake's council position until he has recovered sufficiently to take it back, if that is acceptable to you guys," Scott said, receiving nods of approval from the entire group. "We are going to need some other voices on the council too," he said. "Is there anyone else to consider? What about James or John? They've both stepped up to help and are more than competent in the field. They seem to have the best interests of the group at heart."

"I agree," Ellie said. "They've both been essential to keeping this place running since Billy died. Tim and I will talk to them when we go back to the barn," she said. "As for the prisoner, we already talked about whether or not we should execute him, and it's our opinion that we should give him a chance; now that he has family here I think it's an even better reason to give him a chance. All the info he gave us was true, his story sounds legit. We'll talk to him and get him and his siblings settled in somewhere," she finished. "Come on, Tim."

The two of them headed back to the barn, leaving Alex, Sally, Scott and Zach in the hallway.

"I'm exhausted and starving, now that things have calmed down a little," Scott said. "Alex, you must be starving too."

Alex shook her head. "Not really. Stomach is pretty tied up in knots, actually."

"You should try to eat something," Scott insisted. "How about Zach and I go see what we can find at the bunkhouse and bring something back for you?"

Alex just shrugged her shoulders.

"Alright, we'll be back shortly," Scott said. He and Zach then followed Ellie and Tim out the door.

Sally and Alex sat awkwardly for a moment, until Nurse Cindy exited Jake's room. She saw the girls and walked over to them.

"You can go in and see him if you want to," she said quietly to both of them. "He's still asleep from the surgery, but the company would be good for him, I'm sure."

Alex looked hesitant, but Sally was excited. "Okay," she said as she jumped up a little too fast from her chair and winced from the pinch of her ribs. "Damn it," she muttered under her breath. "Come on, Al," she said, holding her hand out, "let's go see Jake."

Alex eventually took Sally's hand and allowed the girl to lead her to Jake's room. But when she got to the door and saw him lying in the bed, she balked and wouldn't enter the room. Sally let her hand go.

"It's okay, Alex. He's going to be okay," Sally insisted.

Alex just shook her head. "I'm fine here, you go ahead," she said before she slid down to the floor.

Sally went in and gently sat on the edge of Jake's bed. She took his hand and held it carefully, sitting quietly with him for a few minutes. Then she started talking to him in a quiet voice, telling him everything that she knew about the past forty eight hours - about Alex and Scott getting the part and getting the power back on, about the kids that they found out there and the prisoner being related to some of them - anything that would help him know that things were okay and they were safe. Sally talked to him until Scott and Zach returned and told her they brought food.

Sally left Jake's bedside - she was a little hungry - she hadn't finished her dinner when she and Zach went rushing off to the clinic after Ellie told them he went into surgery. They took the food into the kitchen where there was a small table set up. Alex had not followed them, so Scott went back to get her.

"Hey, we brought back lots of food," Scott said. "Come join us, you need to eat something."

Alex just stared ahead and didn't say anything.

Scott wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into a hug. "Let it out, Alex. Tell me what's bothering you so we can try to fix it. You can't just let it roll around in your head and get bigger than it really is."

Alex looked up at him when he said that.

"I know how your brain works, kiddo. Tell me what's got you all tied up," he pleaded earnestly.

Alex let out a big sigh. "I can't look at him in that bed… I put him there… I almost left you all to die. When I realized it was you, when I saw James, I started to turn around and leave you to your fate… but then I saw him get shot and I realized I was being stupid and I did everything I could to help you guys get out of there alive. But I was too late. Jake is in that bed because of me," she wailed. At this point, her resolve broke and she could no longer hold her sobs in. Scott just held her and let her cry, occasionally telling her that it would be okay and that she should just let it all out.

By the time her sobs finally started to lessen, it was getting close to midnight and Scott could barely keep his eyes open any longer. She'd cried for the better part of an hour but seemed to be much calmer now.

"Come on, let's get you to bed," Scott said as he helped Alex to her feet.

"I don't want to stay at the house alone," she said quietly.

"That's good," Scott replied, "Because you won't be alone. We decided the easiest way to keep all the new kids together is to put them at the house. Zach and Sally will be there too," he added when he saw the panicked look that crossed Alex's face. "It's just until we can rearrange things. Only makes sense that they should stay together, after everything."

Alex nodded in agreement.

"Let's go to the kitchen and get a little food in you, then we'll get you to the house," Scott said as he led the way to the kitchen.

After a few bites of cold BBQ chicken and raw veggies, Zach, Alex and Sally piled into the cab of the truck that Scott and Zach had used to bring the food back from the barn and drove to the house. It was the first time Sally had been back in the house since her breakdown. It seemed different somehow, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Her room was cleaned up and the mess in Alex and Jake's room was also gone.

Sally didn't know what a wreck it had been, but Alex noticed. All her broken figurines and mirrors had been cleaned up and the furniture up righted and set back in place. Her clothes had been folded and placed neatly in the dresser. Alex paused at her desk where her throwing knives and other weapons were neatly piled.

"Who did all of this," Alex asked Zach as she looked around the room.

"The kids downstairs," Zach replied. "When Scott and I got to the barn, Ellie was trying to figure out what to do with everyone for the night. Scott suggested they stay here so they could all be together. When we got to the house, though, it was still pretty torn up and the kids offered to clean it up, said it was the least they could do. Guess there's so many of them it didn't take long to get it all done," Zach explained. "I think Scott found those for you," he added when he noticed Alex's hand on her knife holster.

"That was really nice of them," Alex said. "I'll be sure to thank them. And Scott too."

"Alex, I thought that I would stay in here with you tonight," Sally said cautiously. "If you don't mind."

"Of course," Alex said. "That would be great. I don't really want to be in here alone," Alex admitted.


	24. 24 Sunlight Splatters Dawn w Answers

The next morning Alex woke to quiet with the sunlight pouring in from the skylight. Sally was snuggled into her side, still sound asleep. Sally had crawled into bed with her after Alex woke suddenly from a nightmare. With Sally by her side, Alex slept soundly through the rest of the night.

Alex tried not to move; instead she laid there and rested her eyes, thinking about all the things she needed to resolve today. With the dawn of the new day, Alex felt like she had been given another chance and she wasn't going to waste it. The first thing on her list was to make apologies. She needed to apologize to Ellie and Tim and thank them for taking care of the place and doing what she wasn't able to do. She also needed to thank Scott for sticking by her and helping her pull through it all.

She decided then and there that she was done with all the bullshit that had been crowding her mind and keeping her from thinking rationally. She forced the voices of self-doubt and self-loathing to the furthest corner of her brain and instead forced herself to name all the things she was grateful for. It was a surprisingly long list; Alex was focused so hard on naming each thing she failed to notice that Sally was awake and watching her.

"You okay," Sally asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm good," Alex said with a smile, the first one Sally had seen on her in a long while. "I was just naming all the things I have to be thankful for," Alex said. "Turns out it's a pretty long list."

"Longer than it would have been before the world ended," Sally asked.

"Yes, definitely. I don't think I would have been thankful for clean drinking water or power before," Alex admitted. "I guess the apocalypse has a way of putting things in perspective."

"That's true," Sally agreed. "I was just talking to Zach yesterday about how I wanted things to go back to normal, and he thought I was talking about before the dead starting walking, but I meant before our run, back to the way things were then. It's funny, but I don't really miss how the world was before. I mean, I miss my parents and my brother, but everything else… honestly, sometimes this world just feels better… more real. I hope that doesn't sound awful," Sally said.

"No, I don't think it sounds awful. It is a different place now, and things are simpler, in a lot of ways. They're harder in lots of ways too, but I get it, in some ways it's easier now than it was before," Alex said.

"So, what's the first thing on your agenda today," Sally asked.

"Well, I have a number of apologies I need to make, so I figured I'd start there, just make the rounds," Alex said.

"Can I make a suggestion," Sally asked.

"Of course," Alex said.

"You should take a shower first," Sally said with a laugh. "You stink something awful!"

Alex pushed her playfully. "Fair enough," Alex admitted. "I hadn't even thought about it, but you're definitely right. I DO stink… maybe it was the first time I had to cover myself in walker guts… or it could have been the last time…"

"Alright, stinky. You go get in the shower, I'll go downstairs and check on the others," Sally said.

Alex headed to the shower and Sally got dressed and headed downstairs. The others had just crashed on the couches and floor of the living room. Zach had offered to help them get beds made up and cots pulled out, but everyone had waived him off and said they were just fine sleeping on the floor. Sally started with introductions.

"Hi guys," she said cheerily. "I'm Sally. I live here with Jake and Alex… though I guess you don't know who Jake is yet."

"That's Alex's husband, right," Andrew asked. "He was badly injured and that's why she and Scott when to Auburn looking for parts."

"Yes! Jake was shot and Alex and Scott went on the run to get the parts," Sally verified.

"I'm Andrew, this is my brother Jesse and our little sister, Sissy," Andrew said, pointing out his siblings. "Then we have our cousins, Hunter and Chris, over there, and Jeremy, Jackson and Jilly back there. The two little blondes there are Lindsey and Shiloh, neighbors of ours. When everything went south, our families joined together for a better chance at protecting ourselves."

"It's so nice to meet all of you," Sally said. "I think you guys will like it here. Everyone has a job, and there's lots to choose from. For the little ones, we have school, which includes learning how to fight and hunt and other survival skills. Have you been on your own for very long," Sally asked.

"A few months," Andrew answered. "The adults went out on a run and got ambushed. My dad and mom were the only ones that made it back… been on our own ever since. How about you?"

"My little brother and I were out there on the run for the first few days… he got hurt and died right after Alex found us. I've been with her and Jake ever since. That was pretty early on, people were still coming in and they were still putting this place together. They taught me how to survive… they're my apocalypse family," Sally said with little laugh, which caused her to wince slightly.

"How'd you get hurt," Chris asked from across the room.

Sally shifted her eyes to the blond youth. "How could you tell," she asked curiously.

Chris shrugged. "You favor your right leg when you walk, but it's your upper leg not your foot or ankle that causes you pain," he rattled off as he walked closer to her. "You winced when you laughed, but you didn't laugh that hard, so you've probably got some cracked ribs, something that doesn't take much to aggravate. Judging by the faded bruises on what I can see of your face and neck and the fresh scar on your lip I'm guessing someone beat you pretty badly in the last ten days or so," he finished, coming to a stop in front of her.

Sally was impressed. "That's some skill you've got there… I'm not even sure if it's been ten days since it happened… I went on a training run with Alex and shit went sideways… I got kidnapped by a psychopath… he beat the shit outta me, almost bit my lip off. Woulda raped and killed me if I hadn't managed to kill him first," Sally explained, giving them the abridged version.

"Wow," Chris said as he slowly raised his hand and touched the scar on her cheek. You're a pretty tough gal," he said with a smile. "You hunt?"

Sally was caught off guard by the question. "Um, yeah. Alex taught me how to use a bow for hunting, but mostly we just use guns. Jake's shown me how to set a few traps for smaller game too. Why do you ask," she asked.

Chris shrugged and took a couple of steps back from the girl. "Just curious, I guess. I like to hunt… usually go by myself or with Hunter, but maybe we could go sometime, when you're feeling better," Chris suggested.

"Sure, I'd love to," Sally said excitedly. "But Alex really is the one that knows this place the best. Well, her and Jake."

"No offense," Hunter said, "but Alex doesn't really strike me as the "show the newbies around" type."

"Oh… well, she is a great teacher… or she was. Things have been rough lately. I'm sure she'll get back in the swing of things. But I'm happy to go hunting…. just as soon as the doctor gives me the all clear," she added.

Just then Zach came down the stairs. "Glad to see you're all up," he said jovially. "I know I met you all last night, but I need a refresher on names. I'm Zach," he said, offering his hand to Andrew. They went around the room again and introduced everyone and explained how they were related.

"I'm late for perimeter duty," Zach told the group as he gathered his things and headed for the front door. "Anyone want a ride to the barn?"

The newcomers looked to one another, unsure of what they should do. Luckily, Sally saved them.

"We'll head down in a bit," she said. "Thought I'd show them a few things while we wait for Alex."

"Wait for me to what," Alex said as she entered the room. "I'm ready. Woah," she said when she looked around and saw all the people in her living room. "Hi guys," she said to the group. "Zach tells me I have you all to thank for cleaning up the house. I can't thank you enough for tackling that job… I … I had a couple of bad days and tore the house up… just, thank you," Alex finished awkwardly.

"No problem," Andrew said. "We're happy to help, happy to be here. So what's the plan? Where do we start," he asked.

"Well, first thing is to get your housing figured out. I assume you all want to stay together, right," Alex asked.

"Ideally, yes," Andrew replied. "I noticed that you've got lots of trailers set up. If we have to we can spread out in a couple of trailers."

"Let's go down to the barn and we can figure out what all the options are," Alex said. "Once living arrangements are settled then we can get you guys on work teams and for the little ones we can get you started in school."

"Aw, do we have to," Jackson whined. "I hate school."

"Well, school here is a bit different than what you're used to. It's only for half of the day and you'll also get to learn about survival stuff. Come one," Alex said. "Let's go get some breakfast and get this day started," she said, putting her hand on Sally's shoulder.

"How are you feeling? Can you walk all the way to the barn or should we drive," Alex asked.

"I think I'm good enough to walk," Sally said.

"Should we leave our stuff here," Chris asked.

"Always keep your weapons on you," Alex said. "But everything else can stay here."

The group headed out the door and down to the barn, with Andrew giving Sissy a piggyback. Alex led the way with Sally right behind her. Chris walked just behind Sally, keeping an eye on her gait. After walking for a few minutes, Sally tripped and Chris reached out and swept her up in his arms, keeping her from falling.

"I got ya," Chris said as he adjusted her in his arms.

"I wasn't going to fall, you know," Sally said indignantly.

Chris stopped walking and set her down. "Sorry. I just didn't want ya to get hurt any worse," he said sheepishly.

Sally stood on her own feet and looked up at Chris. "It's okay, I appreciate it," she said as she took a few steps forward. Chris kept in step with her. "Between you and Zach I won't ever have to walk on my own again," she teased.

It didn't take them long to reach the barn area and the group went straight to the bunkhouse where Betty and Norma were busy preparing a huge breakfast feast. There was a ton of food, even by their standards.

"What's the occasion," Alex asked Betty who was monitoring the grill out front which was full of sausages, bacon and ham steaks.

"Why it's a celebration, dearie," Betty chirped. "You're home safe, the power's back on, Jake made it through his surgery and we've got lots of new arrivals. Norma and I thought that was more than enough reason to celebrate."

"Well, I can't argue with that," Alex said. "It smells amazing," she said as she snuck a piece of bacon off the platter and popped it in her mouth. Betty playfully swatted her hand.

"There's already plenty inside, go on and get yourselves plates," she said with a smile.

They group filed inside and loaded up their plates with breakfast meats, scrambled eggs, roasted potatoes and pancakes. It was more food than Alex had seen in days and more food than the newcomers had seen since the outbreak started. Their eyes bulged at the bounty.

"Is this really all for me," Sissy asked when Andrew handed her a plate brimming with food.

"Yep, all yours kiddo," Andrew said with a big grin. "Man, you guys weren't kidding about having plenty for everyone," he said to Alex. "Did I say thank you for bringing us with you," he asked seriously.

Alex smiled at him and helped Shiloh with her plate, as she was about to dump everything on the floor. Alex helped load it up with food and carried it to the table for the girl before going back to get her own plate. When she returned to the table with the others, Shiloh insisted Alex sit next to her. Sally was to Alex's left, and Chris was next to her.

The entire group took up two picnic tables and for so many people it was surprisingly quiet as they tucked in to their food. It didn't take long for the bigger boys to clean their plates and when Betty noticed she insisted they go back inside for seconds. The boys didn't need to be told twice, jumping up from the table and hurrying inside like the food was going to disappear.

As Alex looked around the table, she noticed it made her happy to see everyone smiling and happy. It really was like today was a new start. She helped Shiloh cut her meat and explained to Jackson why they had to go to school, using the same argument Kathy had used with her just a couple of weeks ago as to why Sally had to go to school.

Alex felt different. She felt better, complete, somehow. When they finished eating, she and Sally showed them what they did with dirty dishes and then took them over to the barn to get everyone sorted into jobs. The decision was made that they whole group would stay at the house. While there weren't rooms for everyone, there was enough space. They would clear out the second floor office and put bunks in there for the four girls, and the boys would be split between Jake's old room and the third guest bedroom. It would be a tight fit, but it would do for now, until the group got a little more comfortable and decided to spread out on their own.

After that was sorted out, Kathy and Shelly took over, taking the kids into the store room and getting them clothes and other necessities. Alex stopped to talk to Ellie and Tim, apologizing to Ellie for the way she treated her before she ran away and thanking both of them for working so hard to keep the place running and keeping everyone safe. It was a hard conversation to start, but Ellie was nice and receptive, which Alex hadn't expected, and Tim was his usual pleasant self. After giving each of them a hug, Alex decided she couldn't avoid the biggest thing on her mind any longer and she headed to the clinic.

§

Alex paused outside of Jake's door, taking a deep breath and doing her best to settle her nerves. She could do this. Cindy had greeted her when she entered the clinic, saying Jake had done well overnight and that Dr. Benson thought he would be waking up from the anesthesia soon. Alex nodded in understanding and went to Jake's room. Now all she had to do was open the door. With one more deep breath, Alex closed her hand over the handle and twisted.

Jake was sleeping peacefully in the bed along the opposite wall. His color was much better than when Alex had last seen him several days ago and his chest was rising and falling rhythmically, like it was supposed to. Alex tiptoed across the wooden floor and carefully pulled the chair next to the bed, gently taking Jake's hand in both of hers. Not wanting to disturb his sleep, she made herself comfortable and started running over all the things she wanted to say to him.

She must have nodded off at some point because the next thing she knew Cindy was shaking her gently and whispering that she needed to wake up. It took her a moment to remember where she was and what was happening. But she quickly became alarmed that she had done something wrong.

"What's wrong," Alex asked in a panic as she stood up.

"Oh, no, nothing," Cindy said with a smile. "I just need to check his bandages and that means I have to move him. I didn't want to startle you by doing that. You can help if you want," she offered.

Alex was hesitant, but she figured she needed to see it, confront Jake's injury. "Um, okay. What do I do," Alex asked.

Cindy showed her what she needed and Alex put on a pair of gloves before helping Cindy maneuver Jake's body to check the wounds on his back as well as his chest.

"Why ya gotta be so rough," Jake rasped as they rolled him back over. His eyes weren't open and a startled Alex let out a small screech.

"Damn! You scared the shit outta me," Alex said, relief washing over her face.

"We were trying to check them while you were still asleep," Cindy told him. "I'm going to go get the doctor, he's going to want to ask you some questions and check you out for himself," she said.

As Cindy left, Alex once again took her seat in the chair at Jake's side. Jake felt for her hand and Alex took it.

"Glad yer 'ere," Jake grunted out. "Ya okay," he asked.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me," Alex said. "Just worry about gettin' better," she said quietly. "I'm sorry, Jake. For everything. We can talk about it later, but I just want ya to know I'm so, so sorry," Alex said, trying to hold her tears back.

"'Ah know," Jake mumbled as he squeezed her hand.

"How's our patient," Dr. Benson asked as he and Cindy entered the room.

"Been better," Jake breathed.

"That's true, but you were almost dead twenty four hours ago, so I'd take the pain as a win, son," Dr. Benson said wryly. He went to the other side of the bed and began taking Jake's vitals, noting everything on his chart. "How's your pain level? Tolerable," he asked.

"'S okay," Jake breathed. "Hard ta breath, ches' hurts," he said quietly.

"That's normal with a gunshot to the chest," he said seriously. "You took two bullets to the chest, Jake. One of them shattered off your clavicle, breaking the bone along with it. I got all of the fragments, but one of them punctured your lung. The hole's so small I almost missed it. It will heal on its own, but you're going to have a little trouble breathing in the meantime. The oxygen mask will help with that, but as a finite resource you're going to want to conserve as much as possible."

"How long do you think it will take to heal," Alex asked.

"My best guess is it will start to get easier to breath in ten to fourteen days, assuming he does what I say and spends most of that time sleeping and healing. We'll have him up and walking a couple of times a day in a few days, but for now, he needs to just get comfortable here. Collarbones are tricky breaks, even before all this. Nothing to do for it really, other than put the arm in a sling and take care not to use it. Other than that, you lost a lot of blood before you got back here, but we gave you a transfusion. You're going to feel weak from that for a few days too. We'll give you a couple more hours and then Cindy will bring you some broth and we'll get some food in you. No solids for a couple days until I know I won't have to go back in," Dr. Benson said.

"Thanks, Doc," Jake said slowly. "Ya done good."

"I did my best. You're the one that's done good. Now you've just got to keep yourself in bed and allow your body to heal. Do you have any questions for me," he asked.

"When… can I go home," Jake asked slowly.

"Just be patient," Dr. Benson said. "If everything goes like it's supposed to, you can probably go home in three or four days. But you'll end up right back here if you don't stay off your feet. We'll see how the next few days go and go from there. Deal?"

"Deal," Jake said.

Once Dr. Benson and Cindy left the room, Jake squeezed Alex's hand and gave her a weak smile. "'M glad yer here," he said slowly.

"Me too," Alex replied. "You just get some sleep, I'll be right here when you wake up, okay," she asked.

"Love ya," Jake mumbled before he drifted off to sleep.

"I love you too," she whispered to him.

§

For the first time in recent memory, Sally was genuinely happy. Sure her body still hurt a bit if she pushed herself too hard or forgot that she couldn't move that way, but she was happy. After breakfast she had accompanied the new kids as they got sorted for jobs and helped them navigate the supply room where everyone got several sets of clothes, new shoes and sundry personal hygiene items. When they were all loaded up, Ellie tossed them the keys to a truck so they could take all their stuff back to the house. Then they made several more trips with the bunkbeds and they spent the majority of the day rearranging the house to accommodate ten more people.

Sally helped as she could, but mostly she just made suggestions about placement and where to put things that were being removed from the rooms. Chris made sure that she didn't lift anything she wasn't supposed to and he kept her hydrated, making sure her water bottle was constantly full. At lunch, the group went back to the bunkhouse and enjoyed a small, simple meal of fruit and cold meat sandwiches.

After lunch the newcomers met with Kathy, the group's "historian" and they told her their names and their parents' names and gave her a brief description of what happened to them before they came to the Lazy H. Sally waited at the picnic table with the littlest ones while the others conducted their interviews.

When that was complete, they returned to the house to finish their preparations. They wanted to have everything in place so they could sleep in their new rooms tonight. They would all be starting their new jobs tomorrow, except for Jackson who had been assigned to the garden team but wouldn't be able to work for a few more days while his ankle healed. Finally, the job was complete and the group plopped themselves down in the living room to relax, as they had another hour before they had to be at the bunkhouse for dinner.

"Man, I'm still stuffed from breakfast and lunch," Hunter said. "You guys always eat this well," he asked.

"No, today is definitely a feast day," Sally said. "We always have three meals a day, but usually it's a big hot breakfast, cold lunch and a decent dinner. But I've never gone hungry here, that's for sure," Sally answered.

"You guys must have a pretty good supply of meat," Hunter said. "Where's your herd?"

"We've got them spread out over a few neighboring properties, that way they don't over graze any one spot. Every couple of weeks Jake and Alex go out and bring back a couple of heads of beef and slaughter them. We've got a smokehouse where everything cures. Betty and Norma even make their own sausages," Sally said.

"This place is amazing," Jilly said. "It's like everything is still okay."

"Well, we decided we wanted to live, not just survive," Sally said. "The people we've lost worked hard to make that a reality and we aren't going to take it for granted."

There was a noise at the back door and they all looked to see who it was. Zach's face appeared in the hallway after a moment.

"Hey, guys," he said as he looked around the living room. "I see you've been hard at work, I saw all the furniture down at the barn," he said.

"Yep. Been at it all day, but we finally finished not too long ago," Sally said with a smile. "How was your watch?"

"Busier than usual," Zach replied with a sigh. "More walker activity than we usually see. Not sure what's got them on the move or where they're coming from."

"What direction are they coming from," Hunter asked.

"I was stationed on the northwest perimeter today," Zach said, "but all the other posts reported increased activity too."

"How many is normal," Andrew asked.

"A handful, fewer than ten, usually. Though we've gone for days without seeing any. Today I killed ten, just along my part of the fence," Zach said.

"That is a really big increase," Andrew agreed. "But there's been a lot of activity over the last few days, right? That's what we heard."

"Yeah, that's true. Alex blew some shit up in town the other day, that probably rattled the ones around here," Zach said. "And there's that smoke to the southwest, maybe something happened there that got them on the move."

"Pretty sure that's our work," Chris said, grinning at Hunter. "We had to create a diversion so your people could get the parts you needed for the power," Chris said proudly. "So we blew up a janitorial supply warehouse."

"Damn! That was you guys? Were there too many dead surrounding the store," Zach asked.

Chris shook his head. "Nope. There's some fucked up soldier wannabes that have taken over the town. They've got part of it barricaded and they've got some survivors there, but they don't get treated like people here. We've seen them beating people and forcing them into trucks, Chris explained.

"Yeah, our place was pretty close to town and our parents went there for a run when we needed medical supplies… The Soldiers ambushed them, killed most of the group, somehow our parents managed to make it back. But they were both mortally wounded and they didn't live long," Andrew explained.

"That really sucks. I'm sorry," Zach said.

"Yeah, it did suck. But after that we avoided town. Scavenged from local farms and just went without, like everyone else," Andrew replied.

"We got back at them," Hunter said. "When the warehouse blew the Soldiers were spread out investigating a fire we set and we were trying to get away. We were blocked by the Soldiers on one side and the dead on the other. So we jumped from roof to roof until we found the right building to blow up for a bigger distraction and then we played dead under a pile of them while we waited for the herd to thin out. When we looked back on the town just as the sky was starting to lighten we could see the entire place was crawling with the dead. I doubt many of the Soldiers made it out of there alive," he finished with a grin.

"Well, I'm glad you guys made it here," Zach said with a friendly smile. "It's nice to have more people around." Turning his attention to Sally he asked, "So, Sally, how are you feeling today?"

"Better every day," she said. "Ribs are driving me crazy, but my leg is feeling better and my head isn't hurting anymore."

"That's good. We've got some time to kill until dinner, I was going to see if you wanted to go for a ride," he asked.

Sally looked perplexed for a moment. "I think I'm just going to hang out here until dinner, if that's okay. I'll go if you really want me to," she said.

"No, that's fine. I just wanted to ask since you've been wanting to get out the last few days," Zach said. "In that case, I'm going to go get cleaned up before dinner. I'll see you guys later," Zach said turning to head for the door.

"Oh, okay," Sally said to his back as he retreated.

After Zach left the group went back to talking, Sally told them about her life since she'd been at the ranch and they told her about surviving after the adults died. Chris kept his seat next to Sally but didn't talk much; instead it seemed he was hooked on every word she said. When it was finally time for dinner they all walked down together and sat at the same table. Sally saw Zach arrive, but when she waved at him he gave her a nod and then went to sit with Ellie and Tim at the "council's" table.

It wasn't a common occurrence for everyone to be eating at the same time, but somehow today it worked out that way. The dining area was much more crowded than usual. As people got their plates and sat down, Tim and Ellie stood at the front of the group and yelled to get everyone's attention. When they had it, Ellie addressed the crowd.

"I know it's been pretty crazy here the last couple of days and that some of you have questions about what's going on. Rather than refute each rumor as we hear it, we thought it would be easier to have a group meeting and lay things out for everyone. Tim and I are going to explain the events of the last couple of days and then we'll give you time to ask questions," Ellie explained.

"First off," Tim said, "Jake made it through surgery and Dr. Benson says things look pretty good. It's going to be a while before he's back at full strength, though, so we've had to make some adjustments to the council, since it can't just be me and Ellie makin' all the decisions. Alex has also decided to step down from the council for the foreseeable future. We've asked Alex's father, Scott, as well as James and John to step up and fill those council seats for the time being. John and James have been with us since the very beginning and they are familiar with daily operations. Scott knows a lot about what's outside of the fences and he's got a lot of experience dealing with the types of threats we've seen in the last week. Is there anyone that disagrees with this decision," Tim asked the crowd.

There was silence in the crowd and shaking of heads.

"Well, that makes things easy," Tim said, resulting in laughter rolling through the group. "Now, Ellie's going to run through the events of the last couple of days. We're gonna ask that you hold your questions until the end, and we'll do our best to answer them," Tim said.

Ellie started with the power going out and the decision to make the run into town. When it came time to explain the run, Ellie let James do the talking. When he got to the part about Alex blowing up their attackers there was lots of muttering and surprised expressions that rolled through the crowd. Ellie waited a moment for them to quiet down before she continued.

When it came time to explain about the run to Auburn, Ellie asked Scott to take over. When he got to the part about Andrew's group, they all stood up so he could introduce them to the group. He did the same for the members of the horse farm group that were there, and told them about the girl that got hurt in the fight and they had to do a field amputation. From the reaction of the crowd it was clear that many had not yet heard that part of the story. Stephanie got up hastily and stormed away from the dining area, heading for the bunkhouse. Scott ignored this and finished the story.

After the tale was told, Ellie opened the floor to questions. A smattering of hands went up and Ellie called on the first one she saw.

It was Becky, one of the women they rescued from the Oil Company camp. "Are we in danger of being attacked," she asked with concern. The muttering of the crowd indicated there were others with the same concern.

"To be honest, we are always under threat of attack," Ellie said. "But we have increased patrols and are paying special attention to everything in the direction of Empire Valley and so far we aren't getting reports of anything that concerns us. Scouts have said there are increasing numbers of walkers in the area, which we think is because of the explosions that Alex set off, but no sightings of humans so far," Ellie explained calmly.

"What are we supposed to do if we are attacked," newcomer Annie from the horse farm asked when Ellie called on her.

"That's an excellent question, and I'm glad you brought it up because we've been working on a plan for that scenario," Ellie replied. "In case of attack, or any other reason that requires all of us to run, we've decided on a rendezvous point where we will regroup, wait a certain amount of time for everyone to arrive and then go from there. We've decided to use the mine as our meeting spot," Ellie said. She was met with looks of horror from the women that had been rescued from the mine, but everyone else seemed to think it was a good idea.

"We chose this spot because after checking it out when we rescued the women, it was clear to us that this is a good, defensible spot. It offers protection from the elements and can accommodate a large number of people. It is easy to get to, and everyone here should know how to get there from here. Is there anyone that doesn't know how to get there," Ellie asked the group. A couple of hands went up, but even the newcomers knew how to get there as it was a popular destination for school field trips.

"Okay, for the few of you that don't know where it is, meet with Tim after the meeting and he'll get you squared away. Hopefully we won't have to implement the plan, but we have it just in case. Now, the other part of the plan is for everyone to have an emergency bag with enough supplies to last a couple of days. We've already started putting these packs together and you can pick yours up from Kathy at the store room. We should have enough for everyone made up in the next couple of days, so if you don't get one today, keep checking back," Ellie said.

"I heard that Alex was out there alone because she tried to get the parts on her own. Is that right? Are you just letting her run wild," Shelly Sullivan asked. A small group clearly thought this was true, judging by their mutters and grumbles of agreement.

"No, that's not true," Ellie insisted. She was hoping this question wouldn't come up. She wasn't sure how honest to be with the whole group, having not spoken with Alex since her return. Scott stepped up to address the issue.

"What Ellie said is true, Alex wasn't out there on a run," he said with a sigh. "Many of you know that Alex and Sally had some trouble out on a training run and they were attacked by a group of men. Alex has had some issues since then, Sally too. They're both experiencing PTSD symptoms, and it's very difficult, given the high level of stress that we are constantly under, for those symptoms to be treated. While having a panic attack, Alex ran away," he explained to a few confused mutterings and some nods of understanding.

"That's how she ended up in town," he continued. "She just happened to be in the right place at the right time, that's how she ended up saving our asses out there. If she hadn't been there, we would have all died on that run." He paused here for effect, letting that sink in.

"Alex is doing better now. There's something to be said for watching the person you love most in this world almost die; it has a way of either bringing you back to your senses or sending you off the deep end completely. Luckily for us, it seems to have been the former for Alex," Scott explained. "I know Alex can be difficult at best for many of you to understand, and that's okay. But at the end of the day, she's saved all of us, once again. I think it's important that we remember that, and I'm not just saying that because she's my daughter. We've got our issues too. But she certainly deserves both our gratitude and our patience."

It was quiet around the group and no one seemed to have any further questions so Ellie dismissed them to go about their business for the evening. There were a few people that wanted one on one conversations with council members, but it didn't take too long to wrap up those conversations. The council members met in the barn after the meeting to make plans for the next day.

"Well, that went as well as could be expected," Tim said.

"Yeah, I'd say we got pretty lucky. Always run the risk of everything devolving into chaos when you involve so many people in a conversation," Ellie said. "So we need to get a handle on the increased numbers of dead along the fences. We may want to relocate some of them out along the highways like we talked about before so it doesn't look like we cleaned them all out. But we do need to figure out why there are so many all of a sudden. Maybe we can get some people out there following tracks, see if they lead somewhere? We also need to check the neighboring fences. If they're making it to our fence, that means someone else's is down. That threatens us directly and our cattle grazing on other properties," Ellie said.

"I'll organize teams to go check out the fences," Tim said. "It'll be slow going, since most of our fighters are already on perimeter patrol, but I think I can come up with at least two teams to get started on it," he said.

"Sounds good. Walter, one of two fighters that made it back here with me, "Scott said, "He just got cleared this morning by Dr. Benson to return to duty, so I will fill him in on everything and send him your way. He's an excellent fighter and would be good out there checking fences."

With a plan in place, the council dispersed and they began talking to the individuals they wanted out on those teams the next day before they went their separate ways for the evening. Scott volunteered to tell Alex about the meeting and what they'd said about her to the group. They didn't want her surprised if someone came up to her and started asking questions.

By the time Scott finished with Alex and returned to his room with Christine and Joey, he was more than exhausted. He was telling Christine about everything when he dozed off mid-sentence. Instead of waking him, she carefully covered him with a blanket and left him there to sleep.


	25. Ch 25 Our Love is Real Not Fade Away

Jake spent the next eight weeks recovering far too slowly for his liking. He spent a week in the clinic recovering from the surgery. Alex had been hesitant to bring him home when Dr. Benson initially suggested it. She wanted to make sure he was getting better. Finally, Dr. Benson had Jake taken home and set him up in the larger master bedroom while Alex was out on a fence repair run. By the time she got home Jake was sound asleep in the bed and there wasn't anything she could do. Dr. Benson assured her that he was okay to be home and explained in great detail how she could best care for him. The main thing was making sure he didn't push himself too hard while his punctured lung was healing. He would have to use the wheelchair to get to the bathroom for a couple of weeks, which was the reason for settling him in the larger room. Alex's room was too small to maneuver the chair in.

It turned out that the punctured lung healed faster than expected and three weeks after coming home, Jake was chomping at the bit to get outside and do something. Dr. Benson relented at week four and they slowly started increasing the amount of time he spent getting around on his own. Jake was a terrible patient once his breathing was no longer restricted by his lung, and between Alex's constant hovering and Jake's constant frustration of being on restriction, they were constantly bickering. On more than one occasion they had cleared the house with their yelling. Alex was almost always the first one to back down and apologize and Jake always quickly followed suit. They understood why they were fighting and were eager to get back to a more normal routine.

Their empty house was now anything but empty, the constant comings and goings of twelve people meant there was rarely a quiet moment in the house. The Reeves/Peters clan was fitting in with the group nicely. They all were hard workers and team leaders were very happy to have them on their teams. For the most part, things on the ranch were going well.

Spring had turned into summer, and the harvesting teams were hard at work, trying to keep up with the abundance of produce coming from the gardens and the orchards. The cycle of planting, weeding and reaping was constant, and soon they would be planting their fall and winter gardens. The people of the ranch were busy and well fed, and there hadn't been any casualties since they completed the fence repairs. Relatively speaking, there wasn't anything to complain about.

Though that didn't stop some people. One of the members of the other group that Alex and Scott brought back with them wasn't acclimating as well as the Reeves/Peters clan. The Crawford's, the siblings that came from the horse farm, had struggled to adjust to life at the ranch. While Kayla was thrilled to be alive even if she only had one leg, Bobby and Annie had taken a few weeks to work out their issues. Eventually they volunteered to work on the perimeter and harvesting teams, respectively. Their sister Stephanie, however, was a harder case.

Standard practice for newcomers was to give them a couple of weeks to get used to how things worked, then they would either volunteer to work or they would be assigned to a team. Stephanie was initially assigned to work with the horses, since she both liked it and was good at it according to her siblings. But she never showed up for her shifts. Ellie and Scott talked to her several times and the girl would tell them she'd do it and then never show up. They tried changing the assignment, thinking if they found the right job for her she would start to improve, but the same thing happened - she failed to show up for her shifts.

As the weeks went on she started to act out in the community, arguing over her place in line for dinner, whose turn it was for the shower, basically anything she could argue about, she did. She actually threw a punch at one woman because the she stumbled while walking past Stephanie and she bumped into her. Everyday more complaints were coming in, and no matter how many times the council talked to her the behavior didn't change. They were going to have to implement some sort of punishment for her, but the trouble was what. What could they do that would get her to comply?

The council reached out to Stephanie's siblings, hoping to enlist their support in handling the problem. Bobby confirmed what the council had assumed - Stephanie wasn't listening to her family either. All three siblings had tried talking to her, especially when they saw her acting out or fighting with people. They always tried to intervene and break things up, hoping to mitigate the situation before things got really bad. But Stephanie resented their interference and started avoiding them as well. It had been several days since any of them had talked to her, though they had each tried. Bobby agreed to try one more time, staging something like an intervention where she wouldn't be able to leave the room without hearing what they had to say. It was a risk - it could push her even further away from the group, but they didn't have many options. Scott told them he would be around and to let him know if they needed anything.

While the siblings tried to work out their issues, Scott and the rest of the council were having an informal meeting in the barn. It had only been a week since Dr. Benson had approved Jake to resume some of his council duties, provided he didn't over-do it, and Jake was doing his best to keep within those parameters. This council meeting was really more of a catch up session, bringing everyone up to speed on the last few months.

"So they're talking to her now," Ellie asked after Scott filled them in on his conversation with Stephanie's siblings.

"If not now, then soon. They understand the position we're in and that we're going to have to take more drastic action if she doesn't change her behavior," Scott said.

"What kinda 'drastic action' are we considerin'," Jake asked.

"Well, we don't have many options, really," Ellie said. "We've talked about are cutting her rations, but allowing her to stay. But that will probably only make her start stealing, unless we want to keep her prisoner, and nobody wants that. The only other option is exile, but that could be a death sentence for her or for us, if she's found by another group and then tells them where we're at," Ellie explained.

"Sounds like our choices aren't really choices," Alex said.

"Not really, no," Scott agreed. "And nothing to decide until we hear back from Bobby, so we might as well talk about something else."

"Jake has something he's been wanting to bring up," Alex offered, looking at him with a grin.

"What's on your mind, Jake," Ellie asked.

"Well, being stuck in bed fer weeks I ain't had nothin' but time on my hands. Started re-readin' stuff that was layin' around, came across tha last Farmer's Almanac that was printed before tha turn. Says we're in tha first year of a severe, multi-year drought. Now, I know we got rain this winter an' spring, but it wasn't as much as normal, an' it's definitely drier than normal fer this time of summer," Jake explained.

"It does seem drier than usual," Scott agreed.

"I don't think it's anything jus' yet, but it could be a big problem down tha road. Without water we don't have crops, tha cattle won't have good grazin' an' they won't be as fat, some might even die off if it gets bad. Tha water that runs through our creek comes from tha Sierra's, it's an off-shoot of tha Yuba River. If there's no snow melt, tha creek will be dry, an' we'll be fucked," Jake explained further.

"We've got no way of knowing how much snow is up there," Tim said.

"No," Jake agreed. "But I think there's something we can do in tha meantime. Tha book says it's tha beginnin' of several increasingly dry years, so this year an' next might not be too bad, but beyond that could be tough. I think we should build an underground cistern. It'll be lotsa work, but we've still got diesel ta run tha tractors an' trucks an' that'll cut down on tha manual labor. There's clay deposits all over this place an' tha neighboring properties, if we layer tha pit right tha clay will be a natural waterproofin'. We'll hafta come up with some kinda cover fer it. But if we start now we could be collectin' water in it by tha time it starts rainin' again," Jake told them.

There was discussion for a while about Jake's idea and how they would implement it. There was much discussion over the size of the cistern and whether they needed one gigantic one or several big ones in different areas. Was it going to be easier to dig trenches and run pipe to get the water where it needed to go from a single cistern or dig multiple cisterns in strategic places so the water didn't have to travel so far? It was a good discussion and Jake was glad he'd brought it to the whole group, as they raised some issues he hadn't considered.

The land was full of granite, and they could be hard pressed to find multiple places where they could dig that deep without having to use dynamite. They had seriously considered that option, but they didn't want to attract any more attention to the ranch from the living or the dead than they already had. The trucks and tractors would be loud enough as it was.

"What if we set off explosions in several different places at the same time," Alex suggested. "Between the multiple explosions and the echoes through the foothills, I've gotta believe it would be impossible to pinpoint where they all came from."

"True," Scott agreed.

"There'd still be the debris and smoke clouds from each site," John added. "It'd be easy enough to note the general area of the clouds and check them out individually. It's what I would do."

"Man's gotta point," Jake agreed. "Explosions are too risky. We'll just hafta figure it out without 'em. Best not ta dig more than we have ta, though, since fuel's limited. Maybe we should have a survey team check out potential sites before we get too invested in anythin'," he suggested.

"Alright," Tim said. "Once we figure out what areas to consider we can put together a crew to do some recon."

They were distracted from their conversation by the slamming of the bunkhouse door and the yelling that followed. The council members quickly moved from the front of the barn towards the bunkhouse. As they rounded the corner, they heard someone yell, "Steph! Don't," just before they saw Stephanie raise a gun to her temple and pull the trigger.

§

News spread like wildfire what Stephanie had done. There had been a number of people in the area, so there were plenty of witnesses to tell and retell the story. A number of people had heard the argument from outside the bunkhouse, and they were telling others what they heard Stephanie scream at her siblings before she ran outside. "You killed our parents," "I don't want to fucking live like this," and "We're all going to die horrible deaths so why does it matter," were the quotes that were being repeated the most.

The council acted quickly to get the body covered up and removed from the area. John cleaned up the ground and turned over the dirt while Tim and James took care of the body. Jake, Alex and Ellie started talking to the people that were in the area, trying to put a stop to the gossip and mild hysteria that something like this was apt to incite. Scott took charge of Bobby and Annie, guiding them back into the bunkhouse to Kayla who was still stuck in bed. It took them several hours of concerted effort, but eventually there were no more people to console or discourage from gossip and the council members were finally able to regroup before calling it a night.

"Well, that was horrible," Ellie said dryly.

"Yes, it was," Scott agreed. "And it's worrisome that she did it with so many witnesses. We need to be very cautious in the coming days and make sure this doesn't become a trend. We all need to be very visible in the community and take the time to talk to everyone."

"Why," Alex asked. "What do you mean, 'become a trend'?"

"Back at the bunker, as the true scope and nature of what we were dealing with became apparent and people _inside_ started getting sick, there was a rash of suicides. As people started realizing how bad the situation was they opted out," Scott said. "I don't want to see the same thing happen here. I'm not really sure how to prevent it though, other than talking to people and making sure they don't feel alone."

"Yeah, that would be devastatin''," Jake said. "Gotta be somethin' we can do."

"For now I think we just need to give people facetime, make sure they know they're heard and that someone cares. We should meet again after the service tomorrow," Scott suggested. "We need to get organized."

The rest of the group easily agreed with him and they all went their separate ways for the night. Alex and Jake said their goodnights to everyone and headed to the house. When they arrived, they were surprised to find the downstairs dark. When they entered the front door they stopped and listened, expecting to hear noise coming from upstairs. There was nothing.

"Where do you suppose they've got off too," Alex asked Jake after they checked the upstairs bedrooms and found them all empty.

"No clue," Jake said. "She was with Chris an' Hunter tha last time I saw 'er, right aroun' dinner time. Maybe they decided to go for a night walk," Jake suggested.

"Maybe," Alex agreed. "I just wish they would have said something to someone."

"Yeah, we'll havta say somethin' ta her, remind her that we gotta know what she's doin'," Jake agreed.

They each showered and changed into their pajamas. Alex was already in bed and Jake was about to get in with her when they heard the front door close and muffled voices floated their way upstairs. They both got back out of bed and went to greet everyone in the hallway.

"Where have you been," Alex asked all six of them. "And where is everyone else?"

"Jeremy and Andrew have perimeter shifts tonight," Hunter answered. "The rest of us went for a walk."

"I just wanted to show them some of my favorite places," Sally said. "Some are better at night."

"Alrigh'," Jake said. "We jus' need ya ta tell us if yer gonna be gone after dark," he said. "We figured it was somethin' like that, but ya jus' gotta let us know in tha future."

All the kids nodded. "Alright," Sally said. "Sorry I worried you, I didn't think we would be that long, but I knew we would be out after dark. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again," she said seriously.

"I know you will," Alex said with a smile. "We were just heading to bed. Are the girls with Norma and Betty?"

"Yes, Linds and Shiloh are with them and Sissy is with Kathy," Hunter replied. "Hey, what was that gunshot about," he asked curiously. They almost never fired unsilenced weapons, not wanting to draw attention to their location. A lone shot like they'd heard earlier would have been unusual.

Jake and Alex looked at one another before Alex started explaining. "You know that Stephanie girl," she asked. Several of them rolled their eyes as they nodded their heads. "She shot herself," Alex said flatly. "There's a service for her in the morning, right after breakfast, if any of you want to go."

"Shit," Hunter said, slightly louder than he'd intended. "We should go check on Annie and Kayla," he said, looking at Chris and Jesse.

"They're in the bunkhouse. We arranged the room so Annie and Bobby could stay with Kayla tonight," Alex said. "They're pretty upset, obviously, so pay your respects, but don't linger too long."

"We won't," Hunter said as he, Jesse and Chris headed back down the stairs. His family and the Crawford's had gone to school together and they were friends before the world died. He and Annie had dated briefly their last year at school, but her parents had put a stop to that, not wanting their daughter to "go a-whorin'" as Annie's mother had so kindly put it. After that, they continued to hang out together, but they had to be secretive about it. Since arriving here, Hunter and Annie had rekindled their relationship, though it was developing very slowly. They were just so busy working all the time there wasn't much time for romance. At least not during the summer. Come winter they might have more time for love.

Sally and the twins said goodnight to Alex and Jake and then they all headed to their respective rooms. After getting back in bed and turning out the lights, Alex snuggled into Jake's side as he slid his arm around her waist and pulled her in close to her body. He nuzzled her neck and gave her a little kiss just behind the ear. Alex involuntarily shivered as the kiss sent a chill down her spine.

"Ya chilly," Jake asked, trying to pull her even closer to keep her warm.

"Hmm mmm," Alex hummed. "Just tickled a little," she said.

Jake placed several more kisses that elicited the same reaction from her, causing Alex to try to wiggle out of his grasp. Soon it was an all-out tickle fight; Alex managed to get a few good ones in as well and before long the two of them were tangled in a heap, the blankets in a pile on the floor, and Alex and Jake were gasping for breath between fits of laughter. It took several minutes, but eventually they were able to catch their breath and they began untangling limbs from one another. They fixed the bed and then climbed back in, Alex cautiously snuggling back up to Jake before he wrapped his arm around her waist and held her close.

"Was thinkin' 'bout somethin' earlier," Jake said quietly, "An' I wanna ask ya somethin'."

"Ask away," Alex replied before letting out a yawn.

"How would ya feel 'bout gettin' married… like a real ceremony an' everythin'," Jake said cautiously.

Alex was quiet for a minute and Jake wasn't sure how to read her silence. He could feel that her breathing was faster than before and he could feel her heartbeat through her back and against his chest. That was a good sign, right?

"A real wedding," Alex asked. "Why? I mean, why now?"

"I dunno," Jake said. "Thought it'd be a nice thang ta have, a reason ta celebrate. Plus I know ya get a lotta questions 'bout us. Might be easier for everyone else ta understand if they see a ceremony," Jake explained. "Plus, I jus' thought it'd be a nice thang fer ya, thought maybe ya regret not havin' one."

Alex was quiet for a little longer than Jake liked and he was starting to have doubts about this wedding idea.

"Would we get dressed up and everything," Alex asked.

Jake chuckled. "Figured that'd be part of tha deal," he answered. "'Spose we don't gotta, but I figured ya might wanna wear somethin' nicer than jeans an' a tee shirt. It's up ta you, though."

"Really? You really want to do this," Alex asked him. "If you're just doing this for me -"

Jake cut her off. "Ain't doin' it fer ya, doin' it fer us. I wanna marry ya, Al. If you'll still have me," Jake said earnestly.

"I still want to marry you," she said, rolling over and slipping her arm around him, placing a light kiss on his lips. "Ceremony or no, I'm still with you, Dixon."

Jake let out a sigh of relief. "That's good. Ya had me worried fer a minute," he said, leaning in slightly to kiss her.

After several minutes of kissing, things started to get heated, hands started to wander, clothing came off. Alex pressed herself as close to Jake's body as she could and whispered in his ear, "There's some things we should practice before our wedding night," she said mischievously, running her hand along the waistband to Jake's pajama pants.

"You sure," he asked. "We don't-"

Alex cut him off by pressing her lips to his before whispering in his ear, "I'm sure."

§

The morning came too soon as far as Alex was concerned. She and Jake had stayed up most of the night, making love and tenderly exploring one another. Things were much different between them this time than the last time they'd messed around. As Alex opened her eyes to the bright light streaming into the room, her face broke into a smile. She ran back over last night in her head and she could feel the heat of the blush that bloomed across her cheeks. It had been amazing. Sure, it hurt a little at first, but Jake was as gentle as he could be and it didn't take long for the slight pain to be replaced by pleasure. Jake made sure she was well taken care of before they proceeded to the actual sex, and though they had both been nervous when they started, by the time they reached that point, they had both relaxed and things progressed naturally and easily.

As she lay there preoccupied in her thinking on the previous night, Alex failed to notice that Jake was now awake as well. He smiled as he caught his first glimpse of her through his tired eyes and pulled her in tight, surprising her with a kiss which quickly deepened. Soon they were back in the throes of passion and about to pick up where they'd left off last night when a knock on their door stopped them in their tracks. Startled, they looked at one another and began laughing.

"Jus' a minute," Jake called to their ill-timed intruder. He got out of bed and pulled his pajama pants on before going to the door and pulling it open.

"Hey," Sally said cheerfully. "Aren't you guys up yet? The service is in half an hour. If you don't get down to the bunkhouse soon you'll miss breakfast."

"Alrigh'," Jake said. "You go on ahead. We'll be right behind ya." Sally nodded and trotted off, grinning from ear to ear. Jake closed the door and returned to the bed, sitting on the edge next to Alex.

"Guess it's time ta get tha day started," Jake grumbled as he leaned down and gave Alex a kiss on the cheek. "How are ya feelin'," he asked.

"Good," Alex said as she rolled over and sat up. "Little sore, but that's not surprising, I suppose. How are you?"

"Got nothin' ta complain about," Jake said with a grin. "Come on, we better get movin' or people will start talkin'."

"They can talk all they want," Alex said with a laugh. "As long as they don't get in my way in the breakfast line, I don't give a shit what anyone says."

They hurried to dress and quickly made their way to the bunkhouse, where most of the camp had already finished eating. After getting their food they joined Sally and the others at their usual table.

"You two got a late start this morning," Ellie said with a smirk. "Long night," she asked with a wink.

"Hush," Jake said gruffly, though the look on his face gave him away. "Ain't polite ta stick yer nose in people's business."

"So you two _have_ business for us to stick our noses into," Sally interjected, giggling into her hand.

"We shoulda sat at another table," Jake said to Alex, before shoveling his food into his mouth. Alex was amused.

"Of course we have business for you to keep your noses _out_ of, don't all married people," she asked simply.

The table got quiet, and everyone was suddenly very interested in their plates.

"But you guys aren't _actually_ married though, right," Sally asked. "There wasn't a ceremony, so…"

"It's funny you should bring that up, Sal," Alex said. "You're right, there wasn't a ceremony, but we made the commitment to each other and that's all that matters to us. However, we were talking last night and we think it might be a good time for that ceremony. It'll give us something to celebrate and then maybe people will stop with the questions."

"REALLY," Sally practically screamed at them. "There's going to be a real wedding? Can I be in it? Please, please, please," Sally begged. Jake and Alex were both taken aback at her interest and they couldn't help but laugh at her enthusiasm.

"Damn, calm down," Jake said through his laughter.

"You know we wouldn't leave you out," Alex said to the girl. Sally practically jumped over the table to give them both hugs.

"Seriously? This is the best news EVER," Sally crowed. "Where is it going to be? Do you have a dress? Are there going to be other bridesmaids too? Wait, it that what I'll be doing or am I going to be a flower girl? I don't really _want_ to be a flower girl, but I'll do whatever you want me to-"

"Holy shit, calm the fuck down," Alex said to Sally, putting her hands on the girl's shoulders. "It's not going to be _that_ big of a deal. We'll each have one person stand up with us, no flowers this time of year, so no flower girl, I haven't even thought about what I'm going to wear yet. We just talked about it last night, so we don't have anything planned beyond what I just told you, so stop with all the questions."

Word spread like wildfire that Alex and Jake were having a real wedding and while Alex thought telling Sally about it would stop all the questions, it did the exact opposite. By the time they finished eating and started walking to the service, Betty and Norma were already asking her what kind of food they wanted served.

"Honestly, it doesn't matter to me," Alex said carefully. "We're just getting married; it's not that big a deal."

"It IS a big deal young lady," Betty said sternly. "This is the most important day of your life. Everything should be perfect."

"That might have been true before, but I'll be happy if no one dies and we can make it through the day without an emergency," Alex said. "Really, you and Norma can do whatever you want with the food. It'll be perfect and wonderful, no matter what."

"Jake, are you hearing this," Betty asked. "Your bride to be doesn't want any hand in picking the menu. I've never heard of such a thing!"

"Come on, Betty. Ya know Alex. She ain't gonna keep quiet if she wants somethin', right? So if she says she trusts ya ta handle it, that's what she means. An' fer tha record, I agree. If we can make it through tha day without anyone dyin' it'll be perfect," Jake replied.

"Even the cake", Norma asked. "You must have a preference for cake, dear."

Jake shook his head. "Not much inta sweets, whatever ya make will be perfect. Ya never heard me complain 'bout a meal before, I ain't gonna start now."

"Oh, fine," Betty huffed. "Since you two won't make a big deal about it, we will!"

Alex rolled her eyes and then smiled at the two women. "We appreciate you two doing this for us."

§

The service was short and uneventful. Stephanie's siblings each said a few words but no one really knew her other than her family so things wrapped up quickly and people went on with their day. Bobby and Annie were given the day off from their duties, but neither of them took the offer, both wanting to keep themselves occupied with work, so after getting their sister Kayla settled back in the bunkhouse they each went off to their respective assignments.

After the service the council, minus Scott, convened at the barn. There was a lot to do today. Scott would be gone for at least half the day getting his family set up in their new trailer. Now that Joey was healthy and no longer required constant monitoring, they were free to move into their own space. There had been talk of them moving into the main house, but the house was packed full with the kids there and no one wanted them to move since everyone seemed pretty happy with the arrangement. Besides, Scott and Christine were perfectly happy to have some privacy after all their time on the run.

After the service, Zach and Connor went to the clinic to load up the small amount of stuff Scott and Christine had while Scott and Christine went to the main house to look through things that were being stored there. Jake and Alex had told them that they were welcome to anything in the house, but Scott was mostly interested in clothing and maybe a few personal effects. Christine was close to the same size that Alex's mother, Julie, had been, and they were going to take a look at her clothes and see if there was anything that might be useful for Christine as well. There were also several boxes of baby stuff from when Alex was a baby that might hold something useful for Joey.

They'd gone through almost all of the boxes that were in the attic and were going to come away with quite a haul. It was a good thing they'd left Joey with Sally for the day so they could really be thorough in their search. There was just one more box to go through, and Scott's face became sad when he recognized the box for what it was.

"That's Julie's wedding dress," Scott said as Christine set the box down in front of them. "No need to open that one up."

"Of course there is," Christine replied. "Your daughter is getting married in a few days and doesn't have anything to wear. Maybe we can do something with this that Alex would like," she said thoughtfully as she opened the box. It took a few minutes, but after finally getting the gown out from one layer of its protective packaging, Christine held the gown up in front of her, checking it for damage.

"It looks like it's in really good condition," Christine said. "There's so much material here, I'm sure we can make something from it that Alex will love, don't you think?"

"Honestly, I don't know. It's a lovely gesture and worth asking her, certainly," Scott said. "Do you really think you can make a whole new dress out of it in six days though?"

"With help from a few people I'm confident we can do it. It's just a matter of figuring out what Alex wants to do with it," she said, carefully replacing the dress in the box. "Can you manage unpacking on your own for a little bit," she asked hesitantly. "I'd like to run this by Alex today if possible."

"Of course, I'll manage just fine," Scott said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "It's nice of you to do this, considering how rocky things are between you."

"Hopefully this will go a long way towards mending that rift," Christine said with a smile. "I'm going to track Alex down right now. With any luck we can start working on it today!"

§

The council was busy planning the cisterns that Jake had suggested the previous evening and many good ideas were being tossed around. It was going to be a lot of work, and they were going to have to pull people from their current jobs to populate the teams for clay harvesting and pit digging, but as they worked the numbers it was clear they would be able to make it work without weakening the other critical teams. Besides, it would only be for a limited time until the project was complete, then assignments would go back to normal. With teams all sorted out, they would start the project the next day, in hopes of having at least one completed before the first rain fell.

Alex was with the rest of the council mapping out the project when she saw Christine arrive from the house with a large, dusty box in her arms. She waved excitedly for Alex to join her. Alex excused herself from the meeting and jogged over to Christine.

"You aren't too busy are you," Christine asked enthusiastically.

"We were just finishing up," Alex said. "What's up?"

"Well, I hope you won't get mad at me, but I know you need a wedding dress and your dad and I found this in the attic. It's your mom's wedding dress," Christine said quietly. "Do you want to take a look at it? It's in almost perfect condition, I'm confident we can turn it into something perfect for you," she added hesitantly.

Alex was taken aback at this turn of events. She'd never in a million years thought of her mother's wedding dress. She'd been so rude to Christine since she arrived and here the woman was being so kind and thoughtful. Alex could feel tears welling up in her eyes unbidden.

"I don't know what to say," Alex managed to get out. "Why are you being so nice to me when I've been nothing but awful to you since day one?"

"Why would I be mean? That won't get us anywhere, and I truly want to have a relationship with you. Let's consider this a peace offering, okay? A new start. We'll leave all the ugliness behind us and go forward from here," she said as she set the box on the ground.

"Really," Alex asked. "I'm sorry. For everything."

"Apology accepted," Christine said as she pulled Alex into a hug. Alex hugged her back as some of the tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Alright, let's take this inside and see what you think," Christine said, picking up the box. They walked to the bunkhouse and asked Betty and Norma if they could use their room to try the dress on. The women were more than happy to let them use their room and they immediately shooed everyone out of the bunkhouse except for Kayla, who was resting on the couch in the main room.

"You into girly stuff like wedding dresses," Alex asked the girl. Kayla's face lit up immediately.

"Sure," Kayla chirped.

Alex helped her into the wheelchair and pushed her into the back bedroom where Christine was already taking the dress out of the box. After taking it out of the protective plastic outer layer, Christine hung it on the back of the door while she went to wash her hands. Betty and Norma held the dress up so they all could see it.

Alex had never seen it before, only in pictures. It was the most ridiculous thing she could think of, wearing _that_ dress in the zombie apocalypse. Alex couldn't hold in the laughter and by the time Christine came back, Alex was doubled over in laughter.

"That bad, huh," Christine asked as she entered the room.

It took a moment, but Alex was eventually able to get her giggles under control. "It's just so much dress," Alex said, immediately covering her mouth as the laughter threatened to burst out again. "I mean, if something goes wrong, I can't _run_ in that thing."

"Like I said, I think we could turn it into something that would be more appropriate for your tastes," Christine said. "Don't you think we could do something with this, Norma?"

"Of definitely, dearie," the old woman replied. "I see a number of possibilities, and with several of us working on it, it won't take too long."

"Ok, but I don't know anything about dresses, I haven't worn one since I was able to pick out my own clothes. I don't know what I'd like, to be honest," Alex admitted.

"Why don't we start with trying it on," Christine said.

They helped Alex into the dress, which practically drowned her in material. When she was settled, they all laughed for a moment before Betty, Norma and Christine started moving things around and pinning material here and there. There was lots of conversation and animated hand gestures while the women discussed the various things they thought they could do with it.

"What if we take the lining out, make the bodice form fitting and a little flare at the waist to her knees. Then we can use the gauzy outer layer to create a floaty, faerie style dress. I think it would be the perfect style for you," Kayla suggested.

The ladies loved her idea and started playing with the layers to see if they could show Alex what Kayla was talking about. Alex honestly had no clue what they were trying to explain to her, but the people that would be doing the work were enthusiastic about it, which was good enough for Alex. As excited as these ladies were for this wedding, she was pretty sure they wouldn't make her look silly or bad.

"If you guys think it will look good, it won't be too hot and I'll be able to move if I need to, I will trust you to do what you think is best," Alex said. "You're sure you want to spend your time doing this," Alex asked them all.

"Of course we do," Norma responded for all of them. "What Kayla is suggesting is actually pretty simple, and we've got two sewing machines and electricity, so there's nothing stopping us."

Alex thanked them all for their kindness and after hugging each person, they got down to business. It would be three hours before she saw the sun again.


	26. Chapter 26 Fire on the Mountain

The week flew by for Alex; nothing more than a blur of dress fittings, manual labor and sleepless nights. The dress fittings, while Alex appreciated all the work the women were doing, were a nightmare. Alex had to stand still for hours at a time while they pinned and cut and stitched fabric. She'd been pricked by more than one needle and it went against her basic nature to stand that close to so many women for so long. But she did her best to handle the situation.

It was easy enough to deal with. Alex volunteered for the clay digging crew. It would keep her busy and away from the bunkhouse from sunup to sunset, so they couldn't just pull her away from a council meeting for "a quick fitting" which was never quick. After dinner and her shower, Alex gave the ladies two hours of dress time. When she started nodding off while standing there, they usually felt bad for how hard she was working and sent her off to "get her beauty sleep."

What they didn't know was that Alex then spent half the night up with Jake fooling around. Most nights ended with an exhausted Alex falling asleep on top of Jake almost as soon as they finished. She knew she needed to get a good night's sleep, but she always seemed to have plenty of energy, until suddenly she didn't.

After this happened for a third night in a row, Jake cut her off for night four. The words, "we should just sleep tonight," were barely out of his mouth before her breathing evened out and she fell asleep. But the next night, things picked right back up. Alex instigated and initiated the contact, leading Jake over the cliff with her. The only reason the lack of sleep wasn't affecting him as badly was because he wasn't digging all day.

The digging was pretty hard work, even by Alex's standards. They were using a tractor to drill two foot wide holes down twelve to fifteen feet in areas where they knew there were likely clay deposits. If the drill started spewing out chunks of grey clay, they pulled the drill and the diggers got to work, spreading out along the line. They filled wheelbarrows which were dumped into trucks and taken back to the site of the first cistern pit that was already in progress.

Jake and Scott had done some experimenting to see what the best way to line the pit was. It took them a couple of tries, but they finally came up with a method that they were satisfied with. Now all that remained was completion of the pit digging to start the lining process.

Day six, the day before the wedding, started off with a surprise thunderstorm. The best they could tell the thunder was at least five miles away, though they were cautiously on the watch for lightning strikes on the mountain. There wasn't much they could do if it caught fire, but they would certainly try if it came to that. The storm passed without incident and they considered it to be a good omen for the wedding - a cleansing of the earth. Wedding preparations continued full steam ahead.

The day of the wedding was slightly overcast and humid, an odd day for August in the foothills. Betty and Norma had somehow convinced Jake that it wasn't proper for him to see Alex before the wedding, and he'd crashed with Zach for the night. Alex spent a restless night tossing and turning in their big, empty bed.

She must have looked dreadful when she arrived at Scott and Christine's trailer after breakfast because Christine turned her right back around and took her back to the house. Chris drew a hot bath with lavender oil for Alex and then cut up some cucumbers to put over her tired eyes while she sat in the bath.

"Do you need anything else," Christine asked.

"I don't think so," Alex replied. "How long do I leave the cucumbers on my eyes?"

"Just close your eyes and relax. There's more slices there if you want to change them. And keep your hands soaking under the water. Your fingernails are filthy," Christine chided gently. "Soak as long as you can, when you finish, try to take a nap. I'll come back to help you get ready in a few hours."

"Sounds like a plan," Alex said from under the cucumbers.

Alex let the water fill all the way up to her neck in the large, deep jacuzzi tub. Then she leaned her head back against the ledge and took a few relaxing breaths, inhaling the relaxing lavender scent. She let her mind empty as the water eased away her stress.

§

Alex woke with a start, the cucumber slices falling off her eyes and splashing into the tub. She was involuntarily shivering from the cold water she was almost entirely submerged in. Alex pulled the plug and hurried to dry herself off. In the bedroom, the bedside clock said it was almost 4pm. Eight hours!? How had she fallen asleep for that long in the bathtub? She must have been exhausted. Why didn't Christine wake her up? The wedding was supposed to be in an hour.

More questions than answers flooded through Alex's mind as she rushed to dress herself. As soon as Alex stepped outside she knew something was wrong. The air was heavy with smoke and it was hot. Alex couldn't tell where the smoke was coming from; just that it seemed to be everywhere. Something landed on her nose, Alex wiped it off - it was ash.

She ran back inside and grabbed her emergency pack and all the weapons she could carry. After tying a bandana over her face, Alex ran outside. None of the trucks were at the house, so she ran to the barn, expecting to see everyone there packing up to leave.

But there was no one.

Alex hurried to the front of the barn and easily read the scene before her: various items scattered about, vehicles in half packed states but left behind. They'd already evacuated, though it seemed they'd had plenty of time to pack supplies. The animals had been released from their pens; Alex saw pigs wandering in the distance.

The thought that they'd evacuated without her and left her in the bathtub kept running through her brain. There had to be a reason they had forgotten her. Alex was pissed at having been distracted from how the world was now, even for a few hours. It had resulted in disaster.

Alex didn't have time to process any of the emotions that were flooding her brain right now. The fire was close, maybe the far side of the mountain was already burning! Alex looked at the buildings and realized that they hadn't done everything to protect them. Rebuilding would be next to impossible; they needed these buildings to survive the fire if they were going to have a chance at living here. Where else could they go? It was all shit.

Alex had an idea for saving the buildings. She ran to the barn and got the lawn sprinklers, climbing on the roof and securing them so they would spray water over the entire roof of the barn. When she went to the pump to turn them on, however, nothing came out. They must have cut the power before they left. Alex hurried to the power station and turned it back on. She covered the power station and clinic roofs with sprinklers before running back to the barn and covering the bunkhouse with them. The lawn sprinklers drew water from the creek, so as long as the pump kept pumping, the sprinklers would keep going. Maybe it would be enough to protect their home.

It had taken Alex almost an hour to get the sprinklers set, and now she could feel the heat of the fire, though she still couldn't see it. She still couldn't tell where it was coming from, the smoke had gotten so thick she could barely tell up from down. Her eyes and throat burned from the thick smoke.

Alex tossed her bag in the first truck she could get to and started it up, threw it in gear and booked it for the main road. She only made it around the first bend when she realized where the fire was coming from - the main road. The other road out would take her in the opposite direction from the rendezvous point and she needed to get to her people quickly. Alex grabbed her bag and ditched the truck, fleeing into the brush on foot and hoping against hope she could stay ahead of the fire.

Alex had been in this situation plenty of times - running for her life through the brush, some force or another hot on her heels, eager to put an end to her existence. This time though, Alex had to admit it felt different, the stakes were higher. Her pursuer wasn't something she could kill with a gun or a knife. Alex didn't like things she couldn't kill.

She knew where the mine was, but the smoke was thick and she was pretty sure she was slightly off course. After a solid hour of running, in what Alex had thought was the right direction, she stopped short when she heard an explosion just ahead of her. Alex had become confused and run in a circle, back towards the fire. She panicked; her sense of direction had never failed her before. For the first time in her life she had no idea where she was.

Alex turned on her heel and ran back in the direction she'd come, searching for anything that looked familiar or would help her keep running straight. Alex's lungs burned horribly, she could feel how hot the air was that she was breathing in, and every breath threatened to cause a coughing fit. Eventually she couldn't keep it in anymore and she doubled over, coughing and retching until she could hardly stand anymore. Then she trudged on, forcing one foot in front of the other and looking for something she could climb that would get her above the smoke so she could get her bearings.

Alex scrambled to the top of a pile of granite boulders, convinced that she had made some headway in putting space between her and the fire. When she looked back on her trail, she was disappointed to see that the fire, while a little further behind her than when she started, was still headed her direction. The smoke was not quite as thick as what she fought through in that first hour, but Alex's lungs were still burning from working so hard with more smoke than oxygen being breathed in and the coughing fits were getting worse.

Alex turned her attention from the growing inferno and tried to figure out her location, using the little she was able to see. The red disc of the sun was too low in the sky to see from here, and she could make out very few landmarks through the smoke. A stray breeze blew smoke out of the way for a moment and Alex barely caught a glimpse of a house on the hill. She knew that house. She needed to swing to the east to get to the mine. Alex jumped off the rocks and started running east.

After a little while the terrain changed and Alex could tell she was running downhill. It had gotten quite dark suddenly, but Alex could see a little better, the smoke not as thick here. She was in the right area. The mine was on the other side of this little valley; she was within two miles of her people.

Alex hurried through the deepening shadows, trying to reach her goal before she lost the light completely. A coughing fit forced her to stop while she tried to catch her breath. All she could taste was smoke and her lungs and throat were on fire. Her eyes burned and tears ran down her face as her body tried to flush them out. She was so close, she couldn't stop now. After getting the cough under control, Alex wiped her face with the inside of her shirt before replacing the bandana over her mouth and nose. She forced her feet to plod on towards what she hoped was still east.

Once the immediate danger of being burned to death subsided, the flood of adrenaline that had kept her running even when she couldn't breathe abated and Alex was left exhausted and struggling for each breath. She refused to allow herself to stop for a break, knowing as soon as she did it was over. Instead she kept telling herself that it was just a few more steps to get to Jake.

It was now eerily dark, no stars above to navigate by and no moon to light the way, with the reddish glow of the fire behind her. Alex regrettably stopped and took her pack off, rummaging through it until she found a flashlight. She took a sip of water and rinsed her mouth out with it. She allowed herself a small sip which burned the entire length of her esophagus and set off a coughing fit.

The red glow of the fire was not really that far away. It spread out as far as she could see. Everything she'd ever known was ashes, everything that had kept them safe, that they'd worked so hard for was gone. More tears streaked down Alex's face, burning her eyes. She told herself she had to keep moving. Slinging the pack back over her shoulders she pressed on.

Alex had no idea how long she walked; the longer she went on the less coherent she was becoming. Several times she forgot where she was going and why she was going there. The coughing fits were increasing in frequency and severity, and more than once it had put her on her knees while she tried to catch her breath. She was coughing up blackish sputum with each fit and her head was killing her. Each breath caused more pain.

Alex was on her knees now, trying to catch her breath. She remembered she was looking for the mine, and she thought the area looked familiar, but she just couldn't be sure. She tried to get to her feet, but the effort caused a sudden pain in her head. She was suddenly swimming in a blur of white light, and consciousness left her before her head hit the ground.

§

The large group settled into the spacious underground caverns, stressed, but unharmed and relatively alright. The fire seemed to come out of nowhere. James had been the first to report seeing smoke to the northeast that morning. Jake had gone to check it out with Scott, and they were sure that the fire was way on the other side of the highway, and it didn't seem to be moving in their direction.

They watched it for an hour, and it didn't seem to change, so Jake and Scott had returned to the barn, telling James to keep an eye on it and let them know if anything changed, if the wind shifted, if the smoke changed color or increased in amount. Anything was worth reporting. But they heard nothing.

Until suddenly James was screaming to them through the radio that the wind had shifted and was blowing the damn thing right towards them. They needed to evacuate, and they needed to do it now. Scott raced up to James' post to see for himself, hoping James was just over reacting, but really he knew better. James wouldn't exaggerate. The fire had obviously changed direction and was heading on a direct path for the Lazy H. If it hadn't already, it would jump the highway shortly and then it would be a matter of time before it was upon them.

They had used the time wisely that morning before James called for evacuation. The medical supplies that weren't coming with them got packed into the pit they had just dug, covered in tarps and blankets, and then covered with a layer of dirt. If they were able to come back here, they would at least have access to medical supplies. If they didn't come back here to live, they would at least know where to find things.

The power grid was mostly underground. The building it was housed in was above ground, but the works were all in the basement, for just this reason. They cut the power at the source and hoped for the best.

They did the best they could to pack up as much food as they could, emptying out the smokehouse of all the meat they had prepared for the wedding feast that evening. They loaded all the big trucks they could with supplies and then started loading up people. The tanker trucks with oil and gas were driven to the mine, though if the fire followed them they might regret bringing bombs with them.

Jake and Scott and a handful of others were the last ones out; Jake dug a huge pit in the middle of the cleared meadow in front of the barn and the others moved as many fuel drums as they could into it. They covered it with a layer of dirt, hoping it would be enough to keep the fire from blowing up their fuel supply. They weren't as optimistic that this would work for the fuel as they were for the medical supplies.

The air was thick with smoke and ash by the time Jake, Scott and the rest loaded into the last truck and high-tailed it for the mine. They were cutting it close; Jake could see the fire coming over the hills to the north of the ranch. Unless the wind changed, it wouldn't be more than a couple hours before the place was up in flames.

The first evac group opened the gates to neighboring properties where they were keeping the livestock, in hopes that some of the animals would make it out alive. The paddocks and pens had been opened at the ranch as well, and the main road was filled with panicked horses, cattle, deer and other animals fleeing the fire. Once they were clear of the animals and able to look back on the mountain, Jake was glad to see that the fire had seemed to slow over near their small town. He tried to think of what would stall the fire. Maybe the wind had just died down for the time being. Jake returned his attention to the present and focused on the road to the mine.

He hoped Alex was okay and settling in with the others. Things had been so crazy and there had been so much to do, he hadn't had a chance to talk to her before she got out. When he asked about her, everyone said they were sure they had seen her getting into one of the trucks. He would find her as soon as he got to the mine and they would have their wedding right there. Everyone escaping the fire was reason to celebrate, and this was important to her. To both of them. They didn't need fancy clothes and a big feast; they just needed their family there with them to share the moment.

As Jake pulled into the mine parking lot, he realized all the trucks were going to make it obvious to any passerby that someone was around. With the fire, any humans left in the area would be on high alert. Jake hoped there weren't many of them to worry about. They would have to move the trucks back into the woods near the original shaft entrance.

Zach and James were stationed outside the entrance, lurking back in the shadows so they couldn't be seen from the road.

"Gonna need ta move tha trucks back inta tha woods," Jake grunted to them as Scott and the others went inside. "Too visible from tha road."

Zach nodded. "Yep. We were just waiting for everyone to get here. I'll grab a couple of the others to help."

"I'll send someone out," Jake said. "Gotta find Al," he said as he pushed past them into the dark tunnel.

"I'm sure she's with Sally," Zach offered.

Jake grunted his thanks and followed the old tracks further into the recesses of the hill. There were lanterns along the path, but they were few and the darkness spread far between each beacon of light's small sphere of influence. Jake couldn't see where he was walking, but her could see he was getting closer to the next light. Eventually he was able to hear voices and the mouth of the tunnel grew with each step. Finally he entered into the large underground cavern where everyone was getting settled. He immediately began searching for Alex among the group.

He found Sally first. "Where's Al," Jake asked her. Sally was helping Kayla get situated on her makeshift bed.

"I thought she was with you," Sally said, looking up from what she was doing. "I thought she'd gotten on a truck before me, but when she wasn't here, I started asking. We figured she slipped off the truck and was with you," Sally rushed out. "She's not with you," she gasped, panic rising in her voice.

Jake grabbed Sally by the shoulders to get her to look him in the eyes. "Who was tha last person ta actually see her," he growled.

"I don't know," Sally sobbed out.

Jake, panic chilling his blood, raised his voice so everyone could hear. "I need ta know right now who was tha last damn person ta see Alex," his voice steady and cold. People started responding, "I saw her at breakfast," "I saw her leave the bunkhouse after breakfast." They were all canceling each other out. No one had seen her since they found out about the fire.

"I… I filled the bathtub for her…" Christine said quietly, hugging Joey tight to her chest. "Oh my god… I… I left her there! I was supposed to go back and help her dress for the wedding… but the fire… I panicked and all… all I could think about was Joey," Christine sobbed, breaking down in hysterics. Sally and Scott managed to get Joey away from her while Betty and Norma comforted the woman between them.

Jake was fuming. Alex. They'd left her to die in the bathtub! He started for Christine, but Scott was in front of him, mouth moving furiously as he tried to get through to Jake, but Jake couldn't hear what he was saying, the blood was pumping through his ears, drowning everything else out.

Jake pushed Scott to get him out of his way, he needed to go back and get Alex. Scott refused to move. Jake tried again, this time putting his whole body into it. The next thing he knew he was face down on the hard cold ground, someone's knee pressing his neck down.

Scott's face was suddenly right there in Jake's eye line, on the ground with him. Jake watched his lips move for a moment before the words started filling his ears. "...Gotta calm down Jake… can't go back… just think…"

The pressure was suddenly gone from his neck and Jake laid there for a moment catching his breath. Scott was right; he had to calm down in order to come up with a plan. He sat up slowly, not wanting anyone to set on him again. He needed to be able to get out of here.

"Christine said she left her in the bathtub, _this morning_ ," Scott said. "Just think Jake, that was over eight hours ago. There's _no way_ Alex stayed in the tub for eight hours. Even if she fell asleep, there's no way she's still there. Not our girl," Scott said, sounding more like he was trying to convince himself than Jake.

Jake was quiet, trying to get into Alex's head, thinking of the terrain between the ranch and the mine. What would Alex do?

If she got out in a truck, she'd be there already, he was certain of that. If she couldn't get out on the main road, she could take the back road in the opposite direction of the mine, but she wouldn't do that if there was a way for her to go forward, toward the mine. The fire was pushing from the north east so she should have been free to head south, on foot. That's what had to be what she did, it was the only thing that made sense.

Next would be how she got to the mine. The smoke was bad, limiting her navigational options. Her pack should have a compass in it, but she may not know that since he'd only stuck it in there a few days ago. With no sun, moon or stars to plot her direction, she was going by landmarks and common sense, the latter of which would be unreliable if she didn't have her wits about her. It was Alex. She would have her wits about her barring some sort of injury. Jake had to assume that she was headed in his general direction at this very moment.

"Last look I had, tha fire looked like it'd slowed a bit near tha town," Jake said thoughtfully. "If it stalled short of tha mountain, she coulda gotten out in a truck. But she'd be here by now. So either she took tha back road in tha opposite direction or she's on foot. Long as she wasn't stopped by tha fire, she's headed this way. Only trick is how off course she got cuz of tha smoke," Jake explained, leading them through his thinking. "I think we should start searching to tha west an' swing slightly south, that's tha most likely direction she'll be comin' from," Jake postulated.

He looked from Scott to James and the rest that were standing around, expecting more argument, but it seemed his plan was sound, as no one offered any other considerations. Volunteers quickly teamed up and they began their search.

It had been almost two hours and Jake was more than frustrated. They were roughly a mile from the mine, almost due west. They were far from the road and they could see the orange glow of the fire in the distance to the north. The breeze had died down from that afternoon and the smoke was settling in the valley with the cooler night air.

Jake was about to push the group further south when he heard it - a single, weak cough. He froze in his tracks, hoping to hear another, but when none was forthcoming, Jake sprang in the direction the sound had come from, shouting to the others as an afterthought. He almost tripped over her limp body, sprawled out on the forest floor. Jake was at Alex's side in an instant, checking for a pulse. As soon as he felt how weak it fluttered against his fingers, he scooped her into his arms and started running back to the mine.

His nostrils filled with the smell of smoke, burned hair and burned skin. When he'd flashed the light over her he hadn't seen any burns on her face or her arms, but he wasn't really looking. Something was clearly wrong or she would wake up.

Jake ran into the mine, calling for Dr. Benson as he ran. He was ushered to one side of the living area where he carefully set Alex down on the clean sheets that had been hastily laid down. Jake took a step back while Benson, Hobbs and Nurse Cindy went to work, attaching IV's, administering drugs and checking her body for any other injuries.

A large chunk of Alex's hair came off in Dr. Benson's hand when he ran it over her scalp checking for bumps or anything that would explain the loss of consciousness other than CO poisoning, which was his first guess. There was a small burn on her scalp, just behind her ear where the hair came off, probably a large ember fell on her and Alex didn't notice in her fight to stay ahead of the fire.

When the rest of the check came up clean, the only thing left was a lack of oxygen. They continued with the oxygen mask at 100% and treated her superficial wounds. There wasn't anything to do but wait. Either the oxygen would restore function to her lungs and her breathing would improve or the damage was already done and slowly her body would stop functioning. Dr. Benson didn't think it was that serious, since Alex hadn't really sustained any burns. Her lips were cracked and bleeding and she had a number of bruises and cuts, from the brush probably, but nothing serious on the outside.

It was lucky that Dr. Benson had decided to bring several of the oxygen tanks along. They had enough elderly and children that were susceptible to breathing problems from prolonged exposure to the smoky air that he had decided to bring them, just in case. If he hadn't, they would just be waiting for Alex to die.

As it was, things were not looking great. The longer she remained unconscious, the less confidence Dr. Benson had in her waking up at all. Her breathing was still very shallow, though she was breathing on her own, which was about the only good news in it all. If she stopped breathing, they could intubate her, but someone would have to pump the bag by hand, her every breath would depend on someone squeezing the bag. Add to that the high rate of infection for this type of lung damage under ideal circumstances, not in a unsterile cave with damp, dank air - Alex probably wouldn't survive a lung infection, not in the mine. No, the best thing was for her to keep breathing on her own.

While Jake was out looking for Alex, the council had decided to send out scouts to keep tabs on the fire's progress, to the best of their limited ability. They seemed to be safe for the moment, but the wind could change that any second.

The mine was actually an excellent place for them to wait the fire out, as long as they had enough food. When the old part of the mine had been converted to a tourist attraction, the owners spent a considerable amount of money installing a solar ventilation system. The system still seemed to be running okay, Scott had checked it out when they first arrived. It was basic, but it did the trick. They wouldn't be able to run power from it for anything else, not without some serious improvements, but they had clean air, even with a fire raging outside, and right now that was everything.

The next morning, Jake sat at Alex's bedside, her hand clasped between both of his. He barely spoke, refused to eat and wouldn't leave her side. Dr. Benson checked on her every hour, but nothing seemed to be improving. Her breathing was still weak and shallow.

The scouts reported back that the fire had flared up when the wind picked up around noon. It was once again headed in their general direction, though it was not the wind-whipped frenzy they'd seen yesterday. They were hopeful the fire would turn long before it got this far.

In the late afternoon the wind died down and the fire along with it, though the ominous red glow was still too close for comfort. What they'd thought was smoke turned out to be clouds and that night another thunderstorm swept over the foothills. They hoped it would put the fire out, but scouts watched all night as the red glow only got brighter as some of the smoke cleared out. In the morning, the rain was gone but smoke was billowing where they knew the fire to be.

One day turned to three, and still Alex didn't wake. Dr. Benson was surprised Alex didn't wake up after the first twenty four hours with the oxygen mask. Without a CT scan, there wasn't anything more he could do. They'd given her steroids to decrease the swelling of her airways and antibiotics to fight any tiny infection to which her lungs were now susceptible. This type of coma was never seen without severe burns, usually on the face. It was typical of firefighters and people that had literally been pulled out of a burning building. But Alex didn't show any signs of having encountered actual flames.

Confused by the contradicting evidence, Dr. Benson conducted a more thorough inspection of Alex's body. He had to have missed something. He had several people hold lanterns and flashlights so he could inspect her carefully. The skin on her lips was blistered, but not badly. Extreme heat, but not open flames, perhaps? The inside of her mouth was sooty, she had inhaled copious amounts of smoke for a long period of time, as he originally suspected.

It was possible there was some sort of chemical in the smoke, but without being able to run tests, he couldn't treat it, since the treatment depended on the chemical. And he couldn't just treat her for all of them, since some of the treatments might react with one another.

He continued his examination, returning to the burned area behind Alex's ear. He carefully palpated the area this time, not relying solely on visual examination. This time he felt it, and his heart sank; a tiny fracture in her skull, behind the ear. She must have hit it when she fell to the ground, landing just right on a rock. He quickly examined her eyes with a light; both of her pupils were blown. Dr. Benson had checked them when she was originally brought in and during each morning and evening vital check. Her brain was swelling from the injury and had likely caused a stroke in the last few hours. Even if this had happened in the clinic the result would still be the same, since he wasn't a brain surgeon. Alex was going to die. It was only a matter of time until her body started shutting down.

Dr. Benson stood slowly, signaling for everyone to turn the lights out. Jake returned to his position at Alex's side with her hand firmly between his. Dr. Benson went to look for Scott, unsure of how to deliver the news to Jake.

"We need to talk," Dr. Benson said to Scott before leading the way outside.

"What's wrong with her," Scott asked when they got outside, away from prying ears.

"That spot where her hair got burned? I missed something, the burn happened first, but she managed to fall and hit her head in that exact same spot. I felt a tiny fracture there when I reexamined her just now. When I checked her eyes, both of her pupils were blown, and they weren't like that when I checked them this morning. Her brain is badly swollen. It's pressed on her ocular nerve and blown the pupils, and I'd guess the swelling is also the reason her breathing isn't improving, it's pressing on her brain stem. It's just a matter of time before her body starts shutting down. I'm sorry," Dr. Benson said sadly. "Even if I had caught it yesterday, in these conditions there isn't much I could have done differently. Even at the clinic… I'm no brain surgeon; any attempt to drain the fluid is extremely risky, even in fully equipped hospitals with accredited surgeons."

Scott wiped the tears from his eyes and took a breath to steady himself. "Does Jake know?"

"Not yet," Dr. Benson admitted. "I wasn't sure how to tell him, so I came to find you."

"That's probably for the best," Scott admitted. "Hang back. I'll tell him, but he may have questions for you," Scott said.

Scott took another minute for himself before going inside to deliver the worst news of his life. He knelt down next to Jake and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Doc found something, son," Scott started. Jake continued to stare at Alex. "That spot where she got burned, this time he felt it instead of just looking at it. Says her skull is fractured, son, and it's causing her brain to swell. It's pushing up against her brain stem, the part that controls breathing. It's why she never improved with the oxygen like she should have," Scott explained, though he knew Jake knew those things.

"There's nothin' he can do, that's what you're here to tell me, right," Jake grunted.

"Sadly, yes. Even back at the clinic there would have been a limit to what the doctor could have done," Scott said. "It's a matter of time before it stops her breathing, Jake."

"Alrigh',' Jake choked out, silent tears rolling down his cheeks. "Gonna stay wit' 'er til then."

"Okay, son. You keep her company, give a holler if you need anything," Scott added, brushing away his own tears.

§

Alex lingered for two more days. After Scott told him she was dying, Jake lay on the floor next to Alex, wrapping his arms around her and resting his head against hers. He whispered to her all night and through the next day, telling her everything he'd never had the chance to say. When he couldn't think of anything else, he started repeating the wedding vows that he'd written but never got the chance to say. It was the saddest thing Scott had ever witnessed.

Scott explained to the group what happened. Christine was beside herself with guilt; she couldn't even look at Joey without bursting into tears. Sally was holding up well, though Scott thought that was partly because Joey needed her. Christine wouldn't hold him, refused to feed the poor baby. Scott and Sally managed to get him fed when Christine laid down - Scott laid down behind her so she couldn't roll over and Sally held Joey to Christine's breast so he could nurse. It was awkward, but when the alternative was a screaming baby, awkward didn't last too long.

Scouts were reporting back that the fire had moved on and the ground was cool enough to go check out the ranch, see if there was anything there for them to salvage and rebuild. It was likely they were facing a hard winter without the shelter, food and electricity the ranch provided.

Scott was among the group that went to see what was left. As they drove in, it was easy not to get his hopes up, everything across the main road from their road, in the direction of their small town, was burned. Fences gone, trees burned to sticks, houses only represented by a chimney. Their little part of the world now looked like the dead, black and decayed.

The first hope Scott had was when they turned the last corner before the road to their gate. Jake's truck was burned out in the middle of the road and several people got out and pushed it out of the way. When they got past the truck, Scott started to notice that the trees hadn't burned as badly here, like the fire had been hot and fast, not burning in one spot for too long. The dry underbrush and dead grass was gone, but the trees were relatively okay.

The metal gate was still intact, but the wooden fence posts were not, so they dragged it out of the way before proceeding. They came around the bend to a soaking wet barn, sprinklers still running full bore. It looked like the fire had run along the gate side of the creek and miraculously not jumped it. The fire seemed to have burned up the mountain but spared the buildings.

Scott stood staring at the barn. He and Jake had been the last ones out, or so they thought at the time. They hadn't put the sprinklers up, so it must have been Alex. She must have risked her life and spent too long breathing in the smoke to set this up. Scott broke down crying, waving anyone off that tried to comfort him. Saving the ranch had probably been her undoing.

It soon became clear that Alex _had_ saved this place for them. There were plenty of small burn marks near the barn, where embers had floated down and set the grass on fire. But the sprinklers kept them from igniting the structures. If any of the buildings had caught, the fire probably would have taken out everything on this side of the creek as well.

After verifying that the ranch was safe, Scott, Hunter and Chris climbed to the top of the mountain to survey the damage. It was extensive. The fire was still burning to the north, a path of black, charred earth left in its wake. They studied the landscape for a long while, searching for movement, specifically human movement. But they saw nothing and eventually returned to the others waiting at the barn. They silently climbed back into the truck and returned to the mine with the good news.

Alex had finally turned down the path, heading to her final destination. Her body was starting to shut down and her breaths were coming in irregular, ragged gasps. Scott told the others what Alex had done, saving the ranch for them at the risk of her own life. He told Jake that they should take her back there, just the two of them, so she could pass at home. Jake didn't say anything, just carried Alex carefully to the truck where someone helped him inside. Scott carefully drove them home.

He stopped briefly at the barn to grab a couple of shovels and something to wrap her body in. He settled on the Indian blanket she used under her saddle. It was her favorite, with an unusual blue color that wasn't usually found in Native made textiles. She'd done a report on them in grade school, Alex even managed to track down an expert that came to her school and explained how only one tribe made the blankets that had blue dyed wool in them, as they were the only ones to acquire blue dye in trade with the white men. Scott smiled at how her persistence resulted in an Ivy League professor flying across the country to talk to 5th graders about an Indian blanket.

They drove to the top of the mountain, the landscape alien now in its blackened state. They parked near Alex's mother's grave, and Scott helped Jake out of the truck. Jake carried her to the rocks that faced the west, where the land remained as it ever had, golds and browns and greens gently swaying in the breeze. He sat there, repeating his vows and telling her that he loved her while cradling her limp body in his arms. She passed just as the sun dipped below the horizon, its light extinguished with hers.

Scott knew she had passed because Jake was crying loud enough to be heard. Scott was ready, slowly inching his way closer to them, afraid Alex would turn, afraid Jake had forgotten what happens next. But he need not have worried. He was close enough to hear what Jake said to her.

"Promised ya I wouldn't let ya turn, so I gotta do it now, Al. I love ya, an' I'm sorry I couldn't protect ya. Hope ya can forgive me," he said as he gently slipped his knife into the back of her neck. He pulled it out and let the knife slip out of his hand as he collapsed over Alex's body. Scott went back to the truck and got a shovel to start digging his only daughter's grave.

It was almost dark by the time Scott was finished digging, and still Jake hadn't moved. Scott carefully approached the grieving man.

"Jake, it's ready," he said softly. Jake got to his feet, never letting go of Alex. Scott laid out the blanket; Jake placed her on it, kissing her cheek one last time before they wrapped her up. Scott offered to lay her to rest, but Jake insisted on doing it. He also insisted on covering the grave and piling rocks on top to protect it. They worked through the night, with the help of a mostly full moon. When it was perfect, they each sat there, lost in their own grief.

As the sun started to peek over the horizon, Scott stumbled to his feet and dusted himself off. He took the few steps over to Jake and clapped a blistered hand on the man's shoulder.

"Come on, son. We've got a lot of work ahead of us. Alex gave her life protecting this place for us, and the hundred or so people waiting for us back at the mine. She stayed here setting up the sprinklers even after she knew we had left her behind. For all her faults, she loved this place and these people, no matter what happened. We've got to honor her and make this place something she'd be proud of," Scott said gently.

"I don' know if I can, Scott. I can't jus' leave 'er here," Jake said in a slow and shaky voice.

Scott was quiet for a minute, understanding how Jake felt completely. He felt the same when Joey was hovering between life and death. "She's here with her momma, watching over all of us down there," Scott assured him. "You can't do this to yourself; you know she'd hate this, watching you waste your life crying for her. She'd hate it."

"I know," Jake said. "I jus' don' think I can do anythin' else. Everythin' hurts, Scott. She wasn't s'posed ta leave me, we jus'... thangs jus' got better… tha weddin'..."

"I know, son. I know. She was too young, too hard for this to happen to. It should have been me, or you or anyone else but her. I keep saying the same things. But of course it was her. Alex was always rushing into things without thinking them through, certain she could take care of the problem and spare anyone else from having to get dirty. She liked to show off and she was damn good at it too. It was easy to think she was invincible, because that's what she thought of herself. We've got to carry that spirit on with us now, make sure that no one forgets what she did, what she sacrificed for all of us. Will you help me bear that burden," Scott asked, choking back tears as he extended his hand to help Jake to his feet.

Jake stared at the rising sun, shedding light on a new day. He griped Scott's hand and got to his feet, dusting himself off and wiping the tears from his face.

"Yeah, I can do that," Jake agreed.

THE END

* * *

 **Just a short author's note to say it was really hard to write this chapter and bringing this story to an end is really bittersweet. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have enjoyed writing it.**


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